Do I Want to Grow?

In listening to a sermon today, this question was asked - “Do I want to grow in God and experience all He has for me?” My internal response is, “Of course I do! That would be fabulous! That is my heart’s deepest desire!” Sign me up!!”

I have often wondered what it would be like to experience my Christian life in a manner in which the Bible describes*. Do you see the asterisk at the end of my previous sentence? It is there because this desire does come with an asterisk.

* CAUTION: Living my Christian life in a manner in which the Bible describes will be  counter to my American culture. It will require me to shed many previously excepted standard of my earthly existence.

In my pursuit of this goal, I want to explore some of the areas of my thinking that will need to change. I start my exploration at UrgentGospel.com under the “What is a Disciple?” tab. The lead Scripture is this:

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. - Luke 9:23 (NIV)

Word Study:
Deny:  Strong’s Number G533:

• to affirm that one has no acquaintance or connection with someone
• to forget one's self, lose sight of one's self and one's own interests

 
It seems to me that one of the first steps to following Jesus Christ is to deny myself; to lose my own interests and forget about myself in exchange for picking up Christ and His interests.
 
 
THOUGHTS TO PONDER

1. What self-interests do I need to let go of in order to follow Jesus Christ with my whole heart?
2. What would my life look like if I were to lose sight of myself?