Take Up Your Cross

Luke 9:23 ESV
“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'”

Many people interpret the “cross” to be taking up some burden they must carry in their lives: a strained relationship, a thankless job, a physical illness, etc. They look at their difficulty and say, “That’s my cross I have to carry.” WRONG!

To a person in the first century, the cross meant one thing: death by crucifixion. To carry a cross was to face the most painful and humiliating means of death humans could experience. Bearing a cross meant one was about to die, and they would face ridicule and disgrace along the way.

So what did Jesus mean to take up our cross and follow Him? It was a call to self-abasement and self-sacrifice. We must be willing to die to self in order to follow Jesus. Dying to self is an absolute surrender to God.

Jesus’s statement that following Him requires taking up a cross, made people think twice about their motivations and level of commitment. Commitment to Christ means taking up our cross daily, giving up our hopes, dreams, possessions, and even our very life if need be for the cause of Christ.

Prayer:
Lord, I echo Paul’s words in Philippians 3:7,8; “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing You Christ Jesus my Lord. For Your sake I have suffered the loss of all things and I count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”