Follow Me by Tom Ward Aug. 30, 2020
For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? (Matthew 16:25) There are many passages from the Bible that have become figures of speech in our everyday life. “The skin of your teeth” (Job 19:20), “wolf in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15), “flight the good fight” (1 Timothy 6:12) are just a few that come to mind. But there are others… As those passages suggest, my mother liked the Gospel of Matthew. Today’s reading brings two more favorite sayings: “Get thee behind me, Satan!” (Matthew 16: 23) and “Let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)