"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (v23).  As Jesus drew closer to his death, he began to share more explicitly about what it would mean to follow him.  The disciples had heard his teaching and seen his miracles, and now he explained that the key to it all was “the cross.”  Just as he would love the world and win victory by dying, those who would follow him would have to die to their old lives to receive a new one (v24).

“Follow me” (v59).  Daily, we turn away from ungodly ambitions, habits, and desires to follow Jesus into the new life he offers us.