Jesus did it first, and we are called to be like Him as we go after Him.  So, I challenge and ask you: what are you denying yourself for the sake of knowing more of Jesus and transforming more into His likeness? (keyword: “daily”), what are you denying yourself daily as you choose to follow Jesus? What cross is on your back as you follow Him towards Golgotha, towards a daily death?

Following Jesus at a distance, on paper, looked like Peter trailing behind as Jesus was being taken away, but the real distance was in his heart. We may proclaim Jesus with our mouths but our actions reflect the distance we have set up between us and Jesus and how we are following him at a distance.

I thought I was familiar with God’s grace, but my eyes were opened to a much more practical grace that goes beyond the Cross. A grace that is in result of the Cross that still meets us at the well over 2000 years later.