Cross to Bear

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." -Mk 8:34

This verse is asking two things of those who wish to follow Christ: deny and take.

Denying yourself requires much more than we want it to.  I doesn't mean denying your personality, dying as a martyr, or denying stuff.*  It means denying you: your selfish desires and hope in the things of this world. It is calling you to not live for yourself.

But we don't just deny, we then take.  Taking up you cross means that you agree to do whatever God call of you, no matter the cost.  This has nothing to do with bearing the troubles life brings you* (death of a loved one, difficult job, family trouble, etc.), but everything to do with obedience to God's will, and accepting the consequences that may follow.  For some this will involve physical suffering and ever death, but for others it might involve a sacrifice of time, money, comfort, friends, or anything else.  The idea is that nothing is to be held back...we take up our cross no matter what it is, and in doing this it shows our love for Jesus surpasses our love for anything else.

The cross imagery here calls to mind a very profound idea:  Someone who carried a cross through the city to their execution would publicly demonstrate their submission/obedience to the authority which they had previously rebelled against.*  This is exactly what we are doing in taking up our cross.  Though we were once far off (Eph 2:13) and enemies (Rom 5:10) of God, we now make a public declaration of our submission to Christ.  We intentionally live for His will, come what may.

Cross bearing denies self and seeks to live out what God calls us to.  The end goal of cross bearing is not the suffering it may require, rather the end goal is obedience to what God calls us to.  Jesus dying on the cross is the ultimate display of this type of obedience, where He gave everything to fulfill what He was called to do.

So what is your cross to bear?    


*Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.