by Antonio Moreno

We can look all around us and see the results of finished products without seeing the sacrifices, sweat, and tears behind the process of receiving that finished product.

Farmers work diligently to till their fields, plant and harvest crops, and send the finished product to the supermarkets for us to purchase.  Finished products that will nourish our bodies and help us live healthy lives. As we pick up a piece of fruit or a vegetable, we don’t get to see how the farmer prepares the fields and waits until the perfect time to plant the seed. We don’t see the death of the seed and the birth of a new plant that is nurtured and cared for by the farmer.

In the same way that a farmer prepares his fields, Almighty God prepares the way for us. From the very beginning, He has had a wonderful plan that gave us hope and salvation.

God waited until the perfect time to create the earth and everything needed to balance it.  Day and night. Water and land. Everything in perfect balance. God also knew that He would need someone to take care of the earth.  So God created His most treasured creation, man and woman, in His very image.

But even during those first moments in the Garden of Eden, we see the beginning of the downfall of mankind.  A serpent. A tree. A lie. And a choice. Sin is brought into the world, and we hear God’s first promise of a Savior who would be sent to save everyone (Genesis 3:15).

Throughout the Bible we see a God who loves humanity unconditionally no matter how much we mess up. Even when we outwardly disobey Him, God urges us to return to Him and wants us to be with Him for eternity.

God in His perfect wisdom enacted the perfect plan to show us exactly how to live and how to follow Him.  God sent His only son Jesus to save the world from itself (John 3:16-17). Jesus chose to deny himself and disown who He truly was, the blameless, spotless Son of God. He gave up the rights His Father gave Him and emptied himself to obey the will of God.

This was a man who did not do anything wrong, who was sent from Heaven on a mission that was going to require the ultimate act of obedience, no matter what price that obedience cost Him.  In the end, His life was the ultimate price. Jesus was destined to die so that we may live. Jesus died to restore man to the original state that God intended us to live in.

Jesus led by example to show us servanthood. Listening and obeying God is the only way for everything to be accomplished on this earth.

Once we accept Jesus’ as our Savior, we have very direct instructions on how we too are to live:

Then he [Jesus] said to all of them, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must say no to himself. He must pick up his cross every day and follow me.” Luke 9:23

We all do a great job of accepting and confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives.  But this is where some of us fall short. We choose to continue living the same life that we were living before. We chose to conform to this world and make things acceptable that God has clearly said are not acceptable. We don’t always know the next steps to take or don’t always choose to follow the steps that are lined out for us.

Jesus gives us instruction in John 15:5.  Jesus says:

“I am the vine. You are the branches. If anyone remains joined to me, and I to him, he will bear a lot of fruit. You can’t do anything without me.”

To deny ourselves is to live a life like Jesus. He chose to do the will of God over choosing His own will. Jesus did not want to suffer the pain of the cross. His soul was overwhelmed (Mark 14:34). Begging God to take this task away from him, Jesus’s sweat was like drops of blood hitting the ground (Luke 22:44).  But in the end, He chose to be obedient and to follow God:

Going a little ahead, he fell to the ground and prayed for a way out: “Papa, Father, you can—can’t you?—get me out of this. Take this cup away from me. But please, not what I want—what do you want?” Mark 14:35

Most of us won’t be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice of our lives to follow God. Some of us will be asked to give up something trivial and meaningless like a habit or watching certain television shows. Some of us will be called to sell all of our belongings and move to another part of the world to preach the gospel.  Each of us are called to different tasks for the glory of God. We can’t follow His will if we aren’t willing to deny our material comforts or to put ourselves into a position that we may not be comfortable in to follow the will of God.

Until we can do the same as Jesus, deny ourselves and follow God without question, we can’t completely follow the will of God for our lives.

Some of these concepts may seem foreign to you as they are not always taught in every church. Lately the church has turned to more of a grace message than a message of obedience and following the will of God.  Don’t misunderstand me, the message of grace is important and much needed, but we need more.  If a message isn’t helping us grow to be more like Christ, we are getting nothing helpful.  Jesus was very concrete in His statements which challenged every person who heard him.  His message was provocative and challenging, yet still inviting for those who would seriously follow Him.

If this message convicted you, seek out a trusted mentor or pastor who can help you step out in faith to be obedient to the will of God. If you make this choice without holding onto your old self, you will see a new a new anointing in your life and you will see the world in a different light, you will see the world like Jesus sees the world.

If you don’t have a trusted mentor or pastor, reach out to me at tonyontheborder@gmail.com.  I will be more than happy to discuss this topic further and give you guidance on the next steps to take.