This Shalt Not Be

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This shalt Not Be!

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BY DAVID TRYON

been te1ling His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer and die. Peter did not approve of this sort of talk at all. "Be it far from Thee, Lord," he exclaimed, " this shall not be unto Thee !" It was then that Jesus told His disciples, " If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. ... " When He said that, He was stating an inexorable and inescapable law of Christian life and progress. No single one of us can escape it, though it is a law which everyone of us, at some time or other, wants to escape. We have great plans for our Christian lives, as Peter had for His Master. And when the shadow of the cross comes anywhere near us, instinctively we react as Peter did, " Be it far from me; this shall not be unto me". And we try to 'save our lives', protecting ourselves, clinging to our plans, holding on to our reputation, our opinion of ourselves, our pitiful little superiorities, our rosy picture of the Christians we intend to be. We really believe that the way to "Life", the full Christian living which we seek, lies that way. Yet isn't it true that again and again we seem to come to the very threshold of a fuller Christian life; we see it so clearly, yet some:how we do not get there. Why is it that we are continually frustrated? What is this hard, apparently impassable barrier which seems to block our way to the life for which we long? I think I know what it is. It is this law that "whosoever will save his life shall lose it". In our efforts to be 'keen' Christians we hurl ourselves against that law; we weary ourselves, and bruise and break ourselves, and bring ourselves to despair against that law. And when we have recovered a bit, we try again, quite sure that by saving our lives we shall find Life. JESUS HAD JUST

Saving our Lives Only Jesus by His Spirit can teach us the truth about all this. To know it merely with our minds will do us little good. We need to find out in experience the meaning of ~that only by losing our lives shall we find Life. And let us be clear about it. To find the true way into Life will mean the complete reversal of the way we were going about it before. That is a thing which 'flesh and blood' cannot accomplish. Only the Holy Spirit can show us, and lead us in, that path. What does it mean to "save our lives"? It means to say, "No, this shall not be unto me ", when the shadow of the crass draws near. It is how we react to the coming of the. cross which decides whether we shall lose our lives or find them. What does the cross mean? It means being hurt, and it means dying. Am I determined that I shall not get hurt? Do I resent or run away from everything which might 40

cause me discomfort or pain? Am I determined that I shall not die, that is, that at any cost I am going to save my reputation, my plans, my self-importance, my opinion of myself, and all the rest? If so, I am trying to save my life, and Jesus says I shall lose it. Outward Signs What are the outward signs in a life which is saving itself? Their name is Legion! One is a spirit of grumbling and selfpity. Another is a continual attempt to justify oneself, resenting criticism. Another is holding on to past resentments, never forgetting a slight, or an unkind word or act. Another is an attempt to depreciate others, their characters and their accomplishments, so that the one who criticizes may appear bigger by comparison! Another is refusing responsibility which ought to be accepted; an unreal , humility' which will not risk the hurt to pride which would follow failure. Another is the drawing attention to one's own good deeds ~very casually and self-effacingly, of course ~but doing it none the less! Another is being swayed by one's moods and feelings. Another is a desperate attempt to keep one's hands on circumstances and affairs, whether in one's own life or the lives of others, even using one's prayer time to try to persuade the Lord to accept one's point of view! One side of this is a resentment of interruptions or alterations in one's plans, or of people who do not act as one would wish. Dying to Live While these and similar things characterize our lives, however keen and zealous our Christian service, we may be sure that we are trying to 'save our lives', and the law of which Jesus spoke will operate inexorably to keep us out of Life. What is the alternative? The alternative is to let Him bring about for us a complete reversal of this way of living, teaching us gently the meaning of the cross, of losing our lives rather than saving them. He will teach us how we may die to self-pity, and selfjustification, to all resentments, past and present, to the enjoyment of feeling big at the expense of making others look small. We shall learn to die to our moods and feelings, our plans and programmes. And we shall learn how to welcome every unpleasant thing which before we resented, welcome them as His way of bringing the Cross to bear upon our lives. And then we shall find that our bruised and battered and broken spiritual lives are being gently lifted through the open door of His Cross into the borders of that Resurrection Life which He is calling us to share with Him. Particulars of other helpful leaflets and booklets in this series can be obtained direct from: Mr. D. Tryon, Northfields, Stamford, Lincolnshire, England.