Matthew 26:35 - "Peter said to Him, 'Even if I have to
die with You, I will not deny You.' All the disciples said the same thing
too."
Peter thought he could choose the place of his death. As we
get closer with Jesus, we find that dying to self never has the extravagance of
knowing the place where the Lord requires us to lay down our life. We may be
heroic and sentimental in our loyalties, yet we often lack the pluck to
identify with Christ's crucifixion when He is telling us to die to our old
ways. It is easy to live in the "glory hallelujah" of the
resurrection. It is quite another to live in the shadow of His crucifixion when
all have deserted us.
Our misguided understanding of death to self can impinge on
those around us. Instead of increasing their faith to live and die for Jesus as
He desires, we create self-sufficiency in others by our own obstinacy.
Humiliation is the touchstone of true death to self, beloved. Humility seeks
not its own place of death but embraces whatever the Lord says.
May we surrender all
to Him, properly denying ourselves. For only then will death to self have its greatest reward -- a glorious
rebirth in His image.
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