By Pastor Steve Nickodemus

Not a Game

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking this SoundCloud link.

“Then He said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.”
Luke 9:23 New International Version

Mexican Train is a very serious game.  As you can see by these avid devotees, Mexican Train is not to be taken lightly.  For those of you who don’t know the game, its a wildly frustrating game of dominoes on steroids.  A very serious game.

But notice what Mexican Train really is; a game.  At the end of the evening everyone goes home peacefully and no one is seriously injured. But what Jesus is speaking of, following Him, is not a game.  It is deadly serious.  To follow Jesus, self must be denied and every day you must take up your cross and follow Him.  And where is Jesus going?  To the cross.   And that is not a game, not a mock serious let’s have fun for two hours and then go home kind of fun.

This is the most important event of our lives: To follow Jesus or not to follow Jesus.  To not follow Him means that you can avoid some hard, serious stuff temporarily. It means you can play games with relationships, with life and death, even with God.  But finally the avoidance of the serious nature of life ends and we face God in all our mortality and our sin and our weakness.

To follow Jesus means some discomfort, some bearing of a cross, some wrestling with hard issues and sin and pride and fear.  But in the end we stand before God clothed with the righteousness of Jesus, scarred but rejoicing, weary but at peace.

To follow Jesus is deadly serious, not a game at all.  It is the great cross-road of life.  And for all who follow Him there is forgiveness and love and peace, even on the hard road.  And so I invite you to follow Jesus, to take up your cross daily, to put away the games, deny yourself, and enter into His peace.  Amen.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church Colorado Springs, Colorado