What does Christ mean when He says, "Follow me"?

“And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:38

In Matthew 10, Jesus is sending His twelve disciples out with supernatural powers to heal and cast out unclean spirits. He knows they will receive opposition. In His instructions to them He says, “And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:38). This is before Jesus’ death, so they hadn’t witnessed His death on the cross yet, but they were very familiar that death on a cross was a punishment by the Romans and used on Jews. Jesus is preparing them that by following Him they must be ready to give up their lives for His purpose.

When Jesus gives the charge to follow Him, what is He really asking of us? He is pretty straightforward in Matthew 16:24 when He says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” When you deny something, you refuse to acknowledge its existence. Denying yourself to follow Christ means you no longer live your life for yourself. Your life, decisions, choices, direction are all for His purpose. Does that mean to death? It can, and has, for many Christians around the world.

In John 21, we see Peter concerning himself with John’s future. Jesus tells Peter in verse 22, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” Jesus is telling him to stop being distracted by the purpose of another. Jesus has a purpose for each of us, and it is simply to follow Him. The outward direction may not look the same, but the inward direction of our hearts should align with His. Jesus calls each of us to do different things but it isn’t our concern how He chooses to use another. We are to follow Him!

Years ago, my husband and I were going through some job stress for him, and I wasn’t understanding why things were going the way they were. The Lord lovingly reminded me that I didn’t have to understand it, I just had to obey Him. All these years later I now understand. We both had to reach a point of denying ourselves, denying our plans and our ways of thinking and choosing to obey Him by trusting and following the direction He was taking us, regardless of what we wanted to happen in that moment. The Lord has used my husband in ways we had not considered. Work became more of a ministry and outreach then achieving success and recognition.

We have to shift our thinking from ourselves to Him. We no longer seek to please ourselves; we strive to please Him. Luke 18 gives us the story of the rich ruler. He asks Jesus what he must do to have eternal life. He tells Jesus that he has kept the commandments since he was young. Jesus tells him this, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Luke 18:22). What is Jesus really saying to this rich ruler? He is saying choose Him, above all else, deny yourself and follow Him. Be willing to leave everything behind for Him. He must be number one in our lives.

I love the sweet verses in Matthew 6:25-26 that remind us that He provides for us. It says, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

The Lord will provide for you if you trust Him and allow Him to do so. You shouldn’t spend your life focused on providing and just surviving in this world. You should spend your life focused on where He has placed you, regardless of your circumstances, and what He is asking you to do for Him and then allow Him to take care of your needs.

Above all else He is asking you to follow Him, at any cost. You can’t hold on to this world, and the things in it, and follow Him in a full surrender. The Lord knows your heart and will meet you at your surrender. He will ask you to give up things of this world to follow Him, but the joy that comes from following Him is beyond explanation. You know it when you experience it, and you won’t want to go back. This world is enticing, but the treasure of eternal life with Christ are worth the sacrifice here in this world.