hen Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

— Luke 9:23

25 Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

— John 12:25-26

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

— Galatians 2:20

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

— Hebrews 12:2

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Christ’s salvation be your blessing all your days!

Every deliberate choice we believers make to die to self and live for Christ does more than simply claim true faith. Coming to faith and growing in faith to trust and follow Jesus Christ means giving up working harder to be better or doing more works to try to earn God’s favor. No amount of hard work can ever earn God’s favor. God does not ask us to obey to win His love or earn eternal life. We could never do so.

Instead, believers are set free to live by faith in the Son of God. God invites us to believe in His Son, and fix our eyes on Him. Believers live in a loving relationship with Jesus Christ their Good Shepherd and follow wherever He leads. True obedience and good works come only through faith in Jesus. He is the One who has done the one work God requires for our salvation: Jesus died on the cross as our substitute to pay the penalty for our sin. He is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.