Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must
deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me…” Matthew 16:24
Jesus’ first call to those interested in Him was “Come and see!” (John 1:39). As
His disciples spent more time with Him, Jesus’ call became more demanding and
required more commitment.
Here He calls those who would be His disciples to make the ultimate sacrifice
and “Come and die!”
Jesus was the last person Sundar Singh was looking for as a late teenager in
India at the turn of the 20th Century. After all, Jesus was the “foreign god” of
the Christian teachers at his school. A zealous Sikh, Sundar had publicly torn
up a portion of the Bible to protest its claims. One night as he prayed he
became conscious of a light shining in the room. He looked outside to make sure
it was not someone shining a light. Gradually the light took the form of a globe
of fire and in it he saw the face of Jesus. Sundar threw himself on the ground
and surrendered His life to Jesus.
The following months proved to be very difficult for Sundar and his family.
Becoming a follower of Christ was not taken lightly by his family nor his
community. He was excommunicated. He cut his hair, a gesture that did not make
things any easier with his family who were convinced he had renounced his Sikh
heritage.
A month after he was baptized in the year 1905, he took the vow of a
sadhu. He gave away his meagre possessions, put on a saffron robe and
became a barefooted wandering man of God. Among Christians the world over, this
barefoot Sadhu was later called the “apostle of the bleeding feet” because the
soles of his feet were often covered in bloody blisters. The life of a sadhu is
hard and entirely dependent on God. Sadhu Sundar Singh’s needs were met entirely
through the kindness of people he met wherever he went.
Sundar Singh is credited as the first missionary to cross the Himalayan
Mountains to take the gospel to Nepal and Tibet. At thirty-six-years-of-age he
made his last trip over the mountains. He never returned and is assumed to have
been a martyr for Jesus.
In his diary left behind he had written, “It is easy to die for
Christ. It is hard to live for Him. Dying takes only a few minutes—or at worst
an hour or two—but to live for Christ means to die daily to myself.”
RESPONSE: Today I will do the “hard” thing: die to myself and live for
Jesus and others who need His love.
PRAYER: Help me Lord to live worthy of the calling as Your disciple. Show
me the cross You want me to carry today.
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