Скачать или смотреть Daily Devotional With Dakota Day 18

Heeling, by definition, means a dog is following closely behind its owner. There are many different styles dog heeling. There is a street heel, focus heel, contact heel etc. You can even have your dog heel in different positions. The right side, left side, center, in front or in back. I’ve seen it all.

When your dog is heeling, you’ve asked them to walk with you. Regardless of the position or style your dog is able to walk with you because they have learned to follow you. You have taught them that to be with you in the best place possible. There is a unity and bond between you and your dog when they are heeling. They want to follow you.

The same is true for Christians. To be a Christian means to be a follower of Christ. You do what He says do and you also go where He says go. In Matthew 16:24, Jesus is talking to His disciples and He says this, “if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Can you see the steps there? Step 1. Deny yourself. Step 2. Take up your cross. Step 3. Follow Jesus. It’s a process! All too often we stop at the first step! We hear the words, “deny yourself” and a negative connotation takes over. It’s not a negative thing though! Christ is telling His disciples, and us, that we are going to have to say no to some things so that we are free to say yes to Him. We understand what this means with our dogs. Our dogs cannot chase after a squirrel and follow us at the same time. They need to make a choice and so do we.

It is impossible to chase after the things of this world and follow Christ.

Here’s what I’ve learned. The world makes promises it can’t keep. It ask for everything you’ve got while giving you nothing in return. Christ, He gave us everything when He gave us Himself. He ask us to take up our cross and follow Him. This means He isn’t asking us to do anything He Himself hasn’t done. Ultimately He is asking us to follow Him as He follows the will of God.

My hope is that you will learn to deny yourself so that you can walk with Christ better because you’ve learned how to follow Him well. In doing so, you’ll find yourself closer to God in the process.

#dailydevotional #fyp #motivation #encouragement