Leaving Laodicea

“Lord” Jesus Christ also means “Owner” Jesus ChristSurrendering your life fully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ is no small or simple matter. But I’m sure you are painfully aware of that by now. It requires making the conscious choice each day to deny our natural desires and humbly submit to His leadership and control. And that’s where it begins to chafe. We love the Lord Jesus— but we probably love the “Jesus” part more than we love the “Lord” part. But as Jesus commanded, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself (ouch), and take up his cross daily (double ouch), and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24). He sets the requirements for discipleship, not us. And as with just about everything in the Christian life, it’s all or nothing— life or death, hot or cold, light or darkness, narrow gate or wide road, walk by the Spirit or the flesh, good fruit or bad fruit, you get the idea. He says to follow Him, we must first deny ourselves and then die to ourselves. This is what baptism symbolizes. Dying to self, b