Do you have a memory of your crucifixion: the day you declared, “I just want God’s plan for me?”

My friend recalls the time he said those words. He stripped the posters off his bedroom walls. He burnt his records. He put his guitar away and with it the drugs, the worldly friends, and the passion for stardom.

In place of those, he picked up his Bible and hid in his room, trying to get to know this God who had rescued him.

Another friend also made a drastic life change after his decision to follow Jesus. He closed his profitable business, sold his belongings, and flew to a country where he didn’t speak the language at all. There he opened a resort to serve pastors and their families who needed rest.

Not all of us have such dramatic crucifixion stories. But we all have desires that we crucify daily, bad habits we nail to a cross, thoughts and things that get in our way, temptations that dangle in front of our eyes, troubles we have to wave aside or run away from.

Following Jesus is a daily crucifixion of self. This makes our lives fuller, more satisfying, more meaningful. The best living is ours when we live as Jesus would.