“Anyone who does not take [up]
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 life 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 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? It’s a question we must be prepared to
answer. Time, circumstances and
unexpected situations will one day demand an answer from each one of us.
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!
