Have you ever gotten in the way of yourself?
A few days ago, I wrote an article titled, “Invite Them” and I’ve always noticed that the number one reason I don’t do what I prescribed is that I have my mind set on the wrong things.
The Apostle Peter also had his mind set on the wrong things sometimes. In our passage today, we pick up the story where Jesus says to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me” (v23). That may sound harsh, but we all know the price we have to pay when our mind is set at the wrong things.
If that’s you, then you’re in a long line of people who have their minds set on the wrong things. If you want to get out of that way of thinking, I have three ways you can set your mind on the things of God based on Matthew 16:23-24.
But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Matthew 16:23-24 ESV
1. Deny yourself
The easiest way we allow our minds to become set on things other than God’s purpose for our lives is by becoming too self-interested. We worry about things that we can’t affect and so our attention is drawn to those things. We worry about where our next pay check will come from if the economy tanks. We worry about our reputation when our sales pitch is turned down. We worry and worry and worry until in the wee hours of the morning we are awakened by our worry. If that is the case, then we need deny ourselves. More specifically, we need to deny our self-interests.
The idea of denying yourself is difficult. You need to forget your own self interest and let go of self-preservation. Read my post on Living Panic Free in a Panicking World for ways you can do that practically. You can put your mind on the things of God by denying yourself because now you have all that brain power to focus toward God.
2. Take up your own cross
We need to be ready to pay the price on pushing the gospel of Jesus Christ forward. God’s movement is based on the power of his cross and if we want to focus on God, then we need to understand in our mind that God’s glory is going to cost us something. If we are ready to pay that price, then we can stop focusing our own self interests and becoming trapped in a mindset not focused on God.
When Jesus says to the disciples to “take up his cross,” he is telling them that they will need to bear the cost of the mission at hand. God’s movement is not centered on you or me. It’s not based on our comforts or wishes. We should not be operating in a way that measures the limitations of what God’s glory is going to cost us. It will cost us even death and we need to be ready to pay it. The same way Jesus paid by giving his own life on the cross, we need to be ready to pay to that same degree. Focusing on how to avoid that payment is a waste of your mind space.
If payment is inevitable, live into it and stop focusing on those thoughts.
3. Follow Jesus
Since you have cleared your mind of your own self-interests, and have also committed to pay whatever price may come to you in the grand plans of God, then all that is left to do is to follow Jesus. The clutter in our mind is gone when we deny ourselves and take up our own cross. We can sit back and do nothing and live in zen like some other religions out there, or we can use that mind power to follow Jesus fully and immediately.
I can’t tell you what that looks like exactly from your perspective, but I can tell you that it will be worth it.
Prayer: Father, we get in our own way when we try to follow you in faith. We become to pre-occupied with our own self-interests and our own burdens, that we forget we were called to set our mind on you. Help us clear our mind of the anxiety and the distractions as we pursue you in our lives today. Help us be fully obedient to the direction you call us in. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.
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