After Jesus rebuked Peter for having man's preference over God's, He offered this challenge to all of them, but what exactly did He mean when He said,

 "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:24-26

The people in Jesus’ day were very familiar with the act of crucifixion being used as a deterrent to keep the Jewish nation in line under the control of the Roman Empire. They wanted nothing more than a savior (messiah) to come and rescue them, freeing them from the oppressive Roman rule over them! And now, here was this man claiming to be the Messiah telling them that each would have to deny their life’s wants, wills and desires and take up their own cross to follow after Him!

I can almost sense the collective gasp coming from His disciples at that moment, for I’m sure the disciples all felt this was no way to win followers and influence the people!   

 Peter had just had this incredible revelation that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Yet, minutes later Jesus tells us that if we want to follow Him, we must deny ourselves; putting God's desires above our own.

To take up a cross meant that one had received a death sentence.  But then He adds, "Follow me".

Deny self, take the death sentence, and follow Him! Which essentially means you’re no longer in charge of your life!

He goes on to explain that if we are intent on saving our lives, that is, keeping it for our own use, we will end up losing it. But if we lose our life now; if we give it to God for Jesus' sake, we will find the purpose and meaning that God intended when He fashioned us together in our mother's womb.

It seems so easy, so "cut and dry", sort of; “all or nothing”, “black or white” with no grey area. No fence sitting, you must choose one side or the other!

And to place a greater emphasis to His point, He asked what good would it be if we gained everything; all the pleasures and treasures of this world BUT [the result would be to] forfeiture our soul. It honestly seems like a "no-brainer" doesn't it? But the truth is:

 Following Jesus will cost you!

I believe Jesus felt it was of the utmost importance to be honest with His followers at that moment. To call a Jew to pick up a cross was absolutely repugnant to them, and was definitely the greatest symbol of self-denial out there at that time. Death by cross was the cruelest form of torture known in the Roman Empire. It had not only been designed as the most heinous type of death, but the most humiliating as well.

The call to follow Jesus is at the very least- challenging! He is calling us to deny our rights! Our pleasures! Our will!

To follow after Jesus we no longer have the right to decide how we will spend our day; who we will bless and what we will do! To follow Jesus we should rise each day reporting for duty and asking HIM how He intends for us to spend that day.

I will admit that more times than I care to admit, I still remain in charge. Too many times in each day I choose how I will spend it (MY day). I’ve been following after Jesus for years and still fail far to often, but I love this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book, and hoped you would too! The Cost of Discipleship:

“Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: 'Ye were bought at a price', and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Blessings,