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Guest Blog by Gary Riedel

S - SCRIPTURE: Matthew 10:38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.

O - OBSERVATION: This dear brothers and sisters is a tough verse. He who is unwilling to totally give up self, to follow Jesus at all costs is unworthy of Him. Jesus is saying we can’t have our earthly cake and Him too. He can’t just be a Sunday Morning icing on the cake of your weeks worldly affairs. Jesus needs to be at the center of our lives.

A - APPLICATION: Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with Him by Baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  So why is Jesus at the center? Because the old sinful man was drowned by Baptism, and the new man which comes forth realizes that Jesus is One Who gives us newness of life. There is nothing the world has that can come close to comparing to the fullness of eternal life that Jesus so richly offers us. However unless we give Him our whole heart we unfortunately are not worthy of Him. So, at some point in our lives, hopefully sooner rather than later, we must surrender all to Him.  The old hymn; “I surrender all comes to mind.”

P - PRAYER: Heavenly Father send us the full measure of Your Spirit that we might surrender all to You and thereby reap life eternal with You. In Jesus Name, Amen

Photo by CRISTIANO DE ASSUNÇÃO on Unsplash