“If anyone wishes to be a follower of mine, he must deny himself; he must take up his cross and come with me, says the Lord”

The challenge of Lent is to repent – to repent and believe the Gospel.  If we are to change in some meaningful way, it is clear it can’t continue to be a matter of business as usual.  There can be no both/and about it – attempting to follow Christ but without fundamentally giving up on the ways of the world, which encourage us to pursue as far as possible our own pleasure and self-interested ambitions.  No, these represent our buying into the false values of the world, the flesh and the devil.  We can’t ride two horses at once.  If we want to follow Christ, we must deny ourselves – and say goodbye to all that.

To make this decision is to take up our cross.  It is a new start.  But it’s only a beginning …  Our journey into new life must be made in the Lord’s company every step of the way, following in his footsteps and learning from him.  Today he invites us: “Come with me”.  Don’t postpone your response till tomorrow.  Find time to spend with him today.