Friday, April 3, 2015

FOLLOWING

On Good Friday we pause to reflect on the price of suffering and death that Jesus Christ endured to pay for our sins.  In Luke 9:23 Jesus said to his disciples a statement that directly impacts anyone who calls themselves a "follower" of Christ.  "Then he said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).  To this day, courageous people around the world continue take up their cross--to suffer and sometimes even die for their faith in Jesus Christ.  Today, let us keep in prayer the families of the 140 Christian college students who were killed for their faith this week in Kenya, as well as all those around the world who are suffering for their faith.  We should observe that one of the remarkable things about the Christian faith is that we are not called to kill but rather lay down our lives for following Christ.