Never Lord!

2 Samuel 4-5; Psalms 139; Matthew 16

“Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’ Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but the things of men.’ Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’” 

Matthew 16:22—24

The cost of laying down your life for the will of the Father was offensive to Peter, and it’s offensive to us.

Why would Christ require that we, too, die?

Isn’t his death enough?

If we make more money, we have more to give away. If we have more education, we have more capacity to serve God. If we have a husband or wife, we can serve God more effectively, and the list of our potential rationalizations goes on. Once we have surrendered all resources and our capacity to earn them, all our relationships, and every area of our life to God, he is able to use us for his glory. However, we must first die to them and die to self. It is offensive to us, but it is the only doorway to new life.

Have we died?

Will we die?

“Lord Jesus, I surrender all. Search me O God and know my heart. I choose death to self and new life in the power of the Holy Spirit.”