Self-denial is a price that every believer in Christ must pay daily. If you are a follower of Christ, you must be hard on yourself against giving in to worldly pleasures. We must not embrace the sins the world enjoys, and we must not conform to the standards and systems of the world. Rather, we should live by the standards of the kingdom of heaven.
And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.
In this scripture, when Jesus gives the command to leave the multitude for a different territory to preach the gospel, He shows that His ministry is not for given to popularity, nor is it satisfied in comfort. His response to the scribe (a teacher of the law) who wanted to follow Him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head”
, means that the cost of ministry is high and becoming his disciple requires a willingness to forgo earthly comfort, pleasure, and security. The scribe went silent, and it showed that when he saw the actual cost of following Jesus, He was no longer willing to follow Him on the Journey.
As you see in the example of Jesus’ life, after His ministry started, Jesus left the comfort of His permanent home for uncomfortable trips on land and sea to preach the gospel. He roamed cities and villages to liberate people with the word and the display of the power of God. Jesus did not live to enjoy the pleasures and comforts of this world in His days.
Child of God, are you still in your comfort zone? Do you live for worldly pleasures alone? I want to encourage you to leave your comfort zone and reach out to people with the gospel of Christ, like Jesus did. I also want you to stay resilient against the comforts of this world, trusting God to guide how you live for Him. Preach the good news and let your life be a living example of God’s purpose to the people of the world. Do not indulge yourself in anything that will bring reproach to the name of Christ, and at the end of your journey, just as the glory of God manifested in Christ through His resurrection, your victories here on earth will manifest the glory of God, and you will receive the crown of Glory in Heaven. Hallelujah!