There’s a story about a group of soldiers who trained together for years. They were close friends, Rangers who had spent countless hours preparing for the day they would be called to serve. The night before deployment, they went around the barracks, sharing high-fives and fist bumps, excited for the battle they had worked so hard to face. But when they reached the tenth man’s bunk, he was missing. His boots, uniform, and packed bag were all there, but he was gone. The next morning, only nine men left for deployment. One stayed behind.
That picture should make every follower of Jesus pause and think.
In many ways, the church today is like that empty bunk. The boots are there, the Bible sits on the nightstand, the Christian t-shirt is folded in the drawer, and the worship playlist is ready to go. But when it’s time to step up and take action, too many of us are missing. We know how to gather together, but we rarely get in the game.
In Luke 9:23-27, Jesus isn’t giving advice. He gives clear instructions. He speaks to everyone, not just his closest followers or religious leaders, and explains what it really means to follow him: Deny yourself. Take up your cross every day. Follow me.
These aren’t just tips from a life coach. They are the words of a King, telling his people what it truly costs to walk with him.
Denying yourself isn’t something you do just once. It’s a choice you make every day. Each morning, you face the same question: who is in charge of your heart today? The world constantly tells you that your comfort and your own plans matter most. But Jesus says something different. He reminds you that you were bought at a price, and because of that, he has the right to guide your life.
That is the part we quietly resist. We are glad to have Jesus as Savior. We are far less eager to have him as Lord. We want the rescue without the surrender. But denying yourself means agreeing, every single day, that your life is not your own. It means putting other people in front of yourself not because it is convenient or comfortable, but because that is exactly what Jesus did when he left heaven, took on flesh, and walked to a cross he did not deserve.
Taking up your cross isn’t easy to hear, and we haven’t helped ourselves by making the cross just a piece of jewelry. In Jesus’ time, the cross wasn’t a decoration. It was a tool for execution, something a condemned person carried to their own death. When Jesus tells us to pick up our cross every day, he’s asking us to let our old ways die so that something better can take their place.
This is what Luke 9:24 is talking about when it describes the core paradox of following Jesus: if you try to save your life, you’ll lose it, but if you give up your life for Jesus, you’ll find it. If you want to live, you have to let go. If you want to receive, you need to give. If you want to be great in God’s kingdom, serve others. The world doesn’t teach this way of thinking, but it’s how God’s kingdom works, and it always proves true.
Following Jesus means taking action. It’s not just a mindset or a feeling, and it’s not something that stays hidden in your private life. You can’t follow someone by standing still. It means getting up, stepping out, and sometimes going places you wouldn’t have picked for yourself.
This is where many well-meaning believers get stuck. They listen to the teaching, go to church, and agree with what they hear. But they never take the next step. The group keeps gathering, but no one actually puts the lessons into practice. All the preparation never turns into real action.
But following Jesus isn’t always about big, dramatic moments. Sometimes it’s as simple as holding the door and being kind to a stranger. It could mean helping clean up when no one else wants to, or sitting with a widow just to keep her company. It might even be buying a meal for someone who was rude to you, because God cares about people, not just their mistakes, and he wants you to care too.
Jesus also warns in Luke 9:26 about the danger of being ashamed of your faith in public. If your faith only shows up behind closed doors, it’s not really following Jesus—it’s hiding from him. Who you are in private and in public should be the same, because eventually, everything hidden comes out. The enemy is already looking for ways to reveal your inconsistencies.t.
The struggle is real. Life isn’t getting any simpler, and the challenges aren’t going away. Marriages are facing problems, families are feeling the strain, and people around you are struggling while the church stays comfortable and inactive.
The real question isn’t whether you believe Jesus is the Messiah—most of you would quickly say yes. The harder question is this: if you believe it, what are you doing about it?
Get up. Deny yourself. Pick up your cross. Take action.
The battle won’t wait until you feel ready.
Thoughts from Pastor Toney 