TAKE UP YOUR CROSS (PART I)
Blessings in the Mighty Name of Yeshua Hamashiach!
Luke 9:23 AMPC
And He said to all, If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself [disown himself, forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, refuse and give up himself] and take up his cross daily and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also].
I regularly hear people quote this verse to point to some burden they must carry in their life. A demanding/thankless job, a disease, a broken relationship, or a challenging situation. They will say this is their cross to bear.
But this is not what Jesus meant when he said “pick up your cross and follow me.” This is self-pity and pride. What Jesus is talking about is the level to which we are to deny ourselves.
“In the Roman culture, no one would ever be so crass as to turn a cross into a trinket to be worn around your neck or hung from the mirror of your car. It was an instrument of excruciating torture and death. Everyone who picked up a cross embarked on a one-way journey from which he would never return. We notice too, that crucifixion was the Roman mode of execution, not the Jewish mode (which would have been stoning). Thus Jesus’ words are prophetic and personal.”
Living for Christ means that we must pick up our cross daily and die to ourselves. It’s not always pleasant, it’s painful. But this is the way to the life that Jesus promised us. When we not only give up, but crucify, our own desires and our old self.
It’s only after a Christian picks up their cross that they can find the fullness of life.
We cannot lose sight of the life that comes on the other side of that pain. The promise Jesus gives his followers who do this is the hope of a better future, not just here and now, but for all eternity.
Part II Tomorrow
Shalom
Pastor Williams