You can think back over your life and remember the time you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. That experience will forever be in your mind. It changed so much of your life. It changed not only the way you live on earth, but also your eternal destiny. This act of salvation by the Lord is life-changing.
There is more to the Christian life, than accepting Christ as your Savior. That is the beginning but is not the end result. After salvation God requires something else. “There is a great difference between realizing, ‘On that cross He was crucified for me,’ and ‘On that cross I am crucified with Him.’ The one aspect brings us deliverance from sin’s condemnation, the other from sin’s power” (John Gregory Mantle). Salvation is important, but it is also important that you live daily for Jesus.
Jesus knew the difference between being saved and totally living for Christ. Shortly after Jesus fed the five thousand men, He tells His disciples the real meaning of being a disciple of His. This mandate is written in Luke 9:23, “And He was saying to them, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.’” Notice, to be a follower of Christ, begins with you not doing your desires – “deny himself.” Next, you must live your life by daily following Christ’s commands that are contrary to your desires and in fact are burdensome to you – “take up his cross daily.” Finally, you must keep your focus riveted on Jesus during your daily activities – “follow Me.”
Salvation is an extremely important decision in your life. It gains you admission into heaven. But there is so much more to being a Christian than being saved. You must submit to Jesus to follow His leading in your life on a daily basis. Let your submission to follow Christ guide your daily activities. That is what being a Christian is all about!
