Sometimes we get so focused on our blessings, or lack of them, that we determine the health of our spirituality—or our closeness with our Savior—by what God is giving or withholding from us. Nothing might be farther from what Jesus taught. In Luke 9:23, He said, “Whoever desires to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross each day and follow me” (NIV). The crucified life is just not only a prerequisite for following Him, but an indicator that we’re His.
In Mark 4:20, when Jesus explained to his disciples the parable of the sower, he said, “But these are those sown on good ground, those that hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and a few 100” (NKJV). The late Bible teacher and preacher A.W. Tozer explained in his book, The Crucified Life, that to be “a hundred-fold Christian” (one who produces much fruit for the dominion of God), one should be acquainted with Jesus’ death and know what it means to each day die to self and live “the crucified life.”
The apostle Paul revealed his secret for his closeness with Christ: “I even have been crucified with Christ; and it isn’t any longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live within the flesh I live by faith within the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (NASB). Do you desire to walk even closer to Jesus? Walk the Calvary road with Him and each day die to self by giving up your rights for what He wants, and thus live the crucified life.
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