Mark 8:34

Mark 8:34 says, And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.  After telling Peter that his attitude toward what Jesus knew was His purpose in coming and His commitment to fulfilling it made Peter no better than Satan, Jesus called other people to His disciples and Him.  If we try to claim that Jesus is anyone other than the only begotten Son of God Who died to save everyone who will accept Him as their personal Savior and Lord, we likewise are no better than Satan.  Jesus told those that He called that day that if they wanted to follow Him, they had to take up their cross to do so.  The cross was an instrument of death, and they would have to die to self-will in order to follow Him, and so must we.  Verse thirty-five adds, For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. Jesus said if we value this life more than following Him, we would lose our life, but if we value following Him more than our physical life, then we would save our life.  I believe too often as Christians we put our physical well-being and comfort ahead of following Christ.  Verse thirty-six states, For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  Verse thirty-seven adds, Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Jesus asked them and asks us today what we would profit if we gained the whole world but lost our soul.  If we begin to focus on the things of this world more than on our relationship with Jesus Christ, what does that say about our relationship with Him?  One day, the richest person in the world will leave everything behind, and if he or she has not put his or her faith in Jesus Christ, all will be lost, and the same is true for the poorest person.  Verse thirty-eight continues, Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Then, Jesus said if we are ashamed of Him and His word in this sinful and adulterous generation, then Jesus will also be ashamed of us before the Father with His holy angels.  We should never hope that people really won't know that we are Christians because we don't want them to view us as strange.  As Christians, we are strange to those who do not believe in Jesus Christ, but we should want them to know this.