“Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:38
Not worthy of me? Jesus sets the standard and requirements to be accepted as one of His genuine sanctified and spirit empowered followers. We have nothing to do with it. Our role is to "bear our cross".
It’s starts with our willingness to pay the price to follow Him. To live a life in sacrificial love and obedience to His will, not ours. His cross and His sacrifice for us gives Him the rightful basis for setting the standards so high. No one is forced or coerced into accepting a life in the shadow of the cross... but if you do, then you must live your live as Jesus requires.
This is the pivotal issue when it comes to our devotion to Christ. Jesus set this in cement when He said, “anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:38). If we refuse to bear the cross we are given, then we can’t really call ourselves followers of Christ.
Since the stakes are so high, let me take a minute to clarify what it means to bear a cross for Christ. Cross-bearing is when I am willing to endure suffering that comes as a result of being known as a Christian. Cross-bearing requires a willing heart. Our experiences in life will bring us to many crossroads where we must choose: Christ or comfort, Jesus or ease, worship or wealth, our gods or the one and only true GOD. Followers of Jesus make these hard choices because of who Jesus is—the Son of God, He is eternally worthy of our whole existence.
Being Christian is not easy. I wish it was! Don’t you often wonder why Jesus drew such a hard line in the sand when it came to cross-bearing? I mean, why couldn’t the Christian life be just a bit more of a cakewalk?
And then I think it’s because He knew that living to please our Father in heaven would be a rough assignment in a world controlled by the arch enemy of God... Satan. During His ministry on earth, Jesus endured painful rejection, cruel and unfair criticism, marginalization, physical torture, and finally humiliating crucifixion—all to be faithful to God the Father. For Christians, spiritually speaking, this world is a tough and and hostile place to live.
It’s not all gloomy, cross-bearing does not exclude us from the grace of good times and the enjoyment of things He has provided for us. Thank God for the grace of seasons where our crosses can be lighter. But cross-bearing that pleases our Master, will always mean that, when push comes to shove, we choose the “Jesus way” even if it means loss, pain, sorrow and suffering.
Regardless of life’s challenges and maybe suffering, we can use these “seasons of difficulty” to lift Jesus up to a skeptical world. There is no better time to influence people to Jesus, to proclaim the gospel than during the times of our lives when the going is hard. It is during these times that we can point to Christ as our source of strength and our power of everyday living, because there’s no way we could be faithful and obedient, persevering through hardships, without the Holy Spirit working in our lives. The Holy Spirit will only be in us, working through us, IF we are “bearing our cross” as Christ has commanded. if He is the central focus of our lives, then we can be assured of his constant assistance in every part of our lives... including finding joy amidst suffering.
A hard question.... is Jesus worth everything and anything to you? What will you decide the next time you have to choose between carrying your cross and laying it down for a more comfortable stress free life?
Authentic followers of Jesus are joyful to bear their crosses... to prove to our Master that He is more important than anything else in this life!
