Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. — Matthew 16:24
Recently, we were at a restaurant that had a dessert counter. My son loves a good cake, so he asked to go look at the items in the case. I watched as he carefully studied each dessert. He started scanning the top row and worked his way across the case.
After a couple of moments, someone stepped in front of him. I watched as he was confused. The person didn’t see him standing there studying the case. He wasn’t upset with them, but you could see that he really wanted to see the rest of the desserts in the case. He tried to look around the person, but wasn’t able to. After a few minutes, he decided to wait until later.
There are many times that things come into our paths in life which get in our way. In fact, many times we place those things in our lives on our own. We allow the distractions and circumstances of life to keep us from following God. It’s the struggle to deny ourselves.
It can be a challenge to give up what we want. The world makes things look so appealing. But we can never reach our full potential in serving God when we refuse to deny ourselves. Our will, our wants and our desires, must all take a back seat to God’s will and purpose.
Is there anything in your life that is keeping you from reaching your full potential with God? Maybe you are struggling with denying yourself. Today, take a few moments to talk to God about it. Share with Him what you are struggling with. Ask Him to help you give up your will for His will.
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