Today, I want to talk to you about what it truly means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. If you have your Bibles with you, please turn to Luke chapter 9, verse 23.
In Luke 9:23, the Word of God says:
“And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.’”
Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank You for this time that You have given us today. Lord, we submit everything into Your hands. Father, I pray that You speak through the Holy Spirit. Take full control of the words that are spoken today. I pray that You allow these words to be spoken directly into our hearts, taking deep root, producing fruit, and yielding a rich harvest, O God. Father, we love You and we thank You. Speak to my heart, Lord. Transform me and change me along the way. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
An Open Invitation to Discipleship
Looking closely at Luke 9:23, Jesus lays out a clear outline for us. The title of this message is The Prerequisites to Becoming a Disciple of Christ. When you break this verse down into three distinct sections, we see that the first prerequisite is that you must deny yourself. The second is that you take up your cross daily. And the third is that you follow Him.
I love the way this scripture begins. Jesus starts with an open invitation: "If anyone wishes to come after Me..." That means for anybody listening—wherever you are—this invitation is for you. You do not have to possess great qualifications, a head start, or a perfect background. You do not need to be great at something already; you can simply come as you are.
However, we must make a clear distinction between salvation and discipleship. Salvation occurs when you believe in Jesus and accept Him as your Lord and personal Savior. That is the foundation. But discipleship is a step further. Discipleship is choosing to surrender your mind, your body, and your soul to say, "God, I want to follow You. I want to become like You, Jesus. I want to learn from You, know Your Word, and grow in Your Word. I want to eventually look so much like You that when people see me, they recognize You." That is what it truly means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Prerequisite 1: Deny Yourself
The first prerequisite Jesus presents is that you must deny yourself. The phrasing itself tells us exactly what the context is. When you talk about denying yourself, it implies an internal struggle. For example, if I desire a bottle of water, there is something inside me that wants it; but for me to say no to that impulse, there must be a force operating within me that is greater than my own fleshly desire.
Jesus introduces the reality that within every believer, there are two forces fighting for control of our actions. The Apostle Paul describes this internal warfare in Galatians 5:16–17:
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”
To be a disciple of Jesus and lay down your fleshly nature, you must keep a tight grip on your leash. At any moment, the enemy can bombard your mind with destructive thoughts. I have experienced moments in my own life where a sudden thought took me on an emotional roller coaster—reliving moments so vividly that I could feel in my hands things that happened twenty years ago. The enemy tempts us with all kinds of evil thoughts and crazy ideas that we would never imagine ourselves thinking.
The Lifelong Struggle with the Flesh
When I was twenty years old, sitting on my bed, I used to think, "One day, when I am forty years old and much older, I will be so holy and mature that I won't have to worry about these basic sins anymore. My flesh will be saved, and I won't have to fight these temptations." I expected that with enough prayer, Bible study, altar calls, and laying on of hands, my flesh would eventually repent and stop causing trouble.
Now I am forty years old, and I am here to break it to you: my flesh is still present, fighting daily, and capable of causing havoc. My flesh was not saved. What actually changed over those twenty years was my spirit man. My relationship with God deepened, my communication with Him grew, my prayer life changed, and I learned to hear His voice. My spirit man was transformed through years of prayer meetings, Bible studies, and revivals, but my flesh remained unchanged. The reason I can stand a little stronger today is simply because my spirit man has grown stronger than my flesh on given days.
The Apostle Paul’s Battle
Look at the Apostle Paul. He was caught up to the third heaven, raised the dead, cast out demons, survived shipwrecks, suffered beatings, and wrote much of the New Testament. Yet Paul was an ordinary human being just like you and me. Look at what he wrote about his own struggle in Romans 7:14–15, 18–20, and 24–25:
“For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate... For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me... Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Paul’s life teaches us that being in ministry is not a sign that your flesh has become holy. Your level of ministry does not mean you can relax on guarding your flesh. When we see prominent men and women fall, it is not always because they led a secret double life. Often, they simply loosened their grip on the leash for a brief moment, relaxed, and the enemy moved in swiftly during a weak moment.
To deny yourself, you must take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and put on the full armor of God so that, having done everything, you can stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Hold tightly to that leash so your flesh does not take you for a ride.
Prerequisite 2: Take Up Your Cross Daily
The second prerequisite Jesus mentions is to take up your cross daily. The cross carries many deep meanings—it is a place of surrender, dying to self, and laying down our lives. But in this context, taking up your cross refers specifically to your ministerial call, your assignment, your purpose, and your destiny. Because Jesus already addressed our sinful nature in the first statement ("deny yourself"), taking up the cross refers to actively carrying out the assignment God has placed on your life.
For Jesus, the cross represented His ultimate destiny and assignment: to die for the sins of humanity. During His three and a half years of earthly ministry, every interaction and conversation was calculated to move Him from being popular with the crowds to accomplishing His mission on the cross. Every morning, after spending the night praying with the Father, He executed the daily steps required to advance. Taking up your cross daily means actively advancing in the specific work God has assigned to you.
The Parable of the Talents
Jesus illustrates this principle in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25. A master entrusted talents to his servants according to their individual abilities—giving five to one, two to another, and one to a third. When the master returned, the servants who multiplied their talents were rewarded with the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant... enter into the joy of your master."
However, the servant who received one talent was afraid, went out, and hid his talent in the ground. Look at the master's response in Matthew 25:26 and 28–30:
“But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave... Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents... Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
You and I were created to complete a specific task for the Lord. Nobody is an accident. Before you were created, God knew the assignments designated for your life—whether that involves leading worship, preaching, serving, or sweeping church floors. In the Kingdom of God, unproductiveness and unfruitfulness are unacceptable. You are responsible for multiplying whatever talents God has entrusted to you.
Carrying the Weight and the Role of "Simon of Cyrene"
Fulfilling your calling is not always easy. Look at the Apostle Paul: he was beaten with 39 lashes multiple times and shipwrecked repeatedly. Humanly speaking, if I were in his shoes, I might say, "God, I don't think travel ministry is my calling; I will just pray for missionaries from home." But Paul kept going, burdened for the churches, writing epistles, mentoring leaders, and praying for the sick while bound in prison.
As Jesus carried His physical cross toward Golgotha, the weight became so overwhelming that the Roman guards compelled Simon of Cyrene to help Him carry it.
Simon did not replace Jesus, nor did he die on the cross; he was brought in for a specific season to help carry the burden along the way. In our lives, God places "Simons"—prayer partners, encouraging brothers and sisters, and supportive companions—to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us when our assignment feels too heavy to bear alone. My prayer is that God would allow us to be a Simon of Cyrene to others in our lives who are struggling under the weight of their current trials.
Propelled by the Father's Love
What compelled Jesus to take every painful step toward the cross? It was expressed in His prayer at Gethsemane: "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."
What must compel us to take up our cross daily is the love of the Father. Human willpower, emotions, and circumstances are inconsistent and will fail us. Only the deep love of the Father will enable us to wake up day after day and say, "God, this task is hard, but I am going to pick up my cross and take another step forward in My calling."
Prerequisite 3: Follow Me
The third prerequisite Jesus gives us is the simple, gentle invitation: "Follow Me."
In ancient times, Jewish rabbis would walk by prospective students and invite them, "Come, follow me." It was not a harsh mandate or a forced command; it was a humble, gracious invitation to sit in the rabbi's presence, learn under his wing, and be transformed.
Jesus gives us that exact same daily invitation today. He invites us to sit in His presence, hear His voice, learn His Word, and grow in understanding. As you spend consistent time sitting at His feet, your character, personality, perspective, and capacity to love others will naturally transform until you begin to look just like Him.
The Hope Found in the Word "Daily"
There is one word in Luke 9:23 that changes the entire dynamic of the verse: daily.
Jesus could have simply said, "Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me." But He specifically included the word daily. That single word provides us with immense hope because it means there is a fresh reset available to us every single morning.
Yesterday, you might have slipped up. Yesterday, your flesh might have gotten the better of you, or you might have missed an opportunity to advance God's Kingdom. But today brings a brand-new start. Discipleship is a daily investment in your relationship with God.
The Escalator Analogy
When I first moved from India, I was fascinated by escalators. As a child, my favorite thing to do was stand at the bottom of a downward-moving escalator and run up as fast as I could to outrun it.
The Christian walk operates in much the same way. The natural pull of this world, the culture around us, and our own fleshly nature are constantly pulling us downward. If you do nothing—if you simply stand still without actively denying your flesh, taking up your cross, and abiding in His presence—you will naturally drift downward into sin, spiritual neglect, and apathy. You must intentionally press forward every single day.
This is why Jesus instructed us to pray daily for our physical and spiritual sustenance in Luke 11:3:
“Give us each day our daily bread.”
And as Lamentations 3:22–23 promises us:
“The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
Conclusion
A successful Christian day is not defined as a day devoid of any temptation or struggle; it is a day where you actively denied your flesh, took a deliberate step forward in your God-given assignment, and sat at the feet of Jesus. Spiritual maturity is not measured in years sitting in a church pew—it is measured by your daily walk. You do not need to be discouraged over past failures or a lack of progress over previous years, because God offers you a fresh start today.
Jesus is extending an open invitation for daily communion with Him. The invitation is for "whoever" will hear. Will you choose to spend time in His presence today, hold tight to the leash of your flesh, pick up your assignment, and walk closely with Him?
“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
May God bless you as you walk in His call today.