Carrying any crosses lately?

Jesus covered a lot of miles and many topics during his 33 years on Earth. One of the more unique things He said during his three-year ministry was the phrase “Take up your Cross and follow me.” Sounds religious, sure. Let’s see if we can flesh out what it really means.

You likely have at least heard about how Jesus carried His Cross. He carried a Cross that weighed an estimated 165 pounds up the hill after being beaten almost to death (literally). How many of us could carry that much weight completely healthy? Here’s a pretty realistic picture of what it looked like from the movie “The Passion of the Christ.”

In the Book of Mark, Jesus was explaining to His disciples the real meaning of His mission on Earth. It was not what they were expecting.

Jesus confirmed that He would be firmly rejected by religious officials. He further told of His death and resurrection after three days. The disciples were shocked. They and the rest of Israel were expecting the Messiah to be a military figure who would battle and drive out the Romans.

As the disciples were standing there in disbelief, ibelieve.com says Jesus called the crowds gathered around Him and his followers, saying, “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny Himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” He followed that up with something equally interesting, saying, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it.”

Pastor Greg Laurie posed an interesting question for an article on crosswalk.com. “Why would Jesus use the cross in all of its gruesomeness to illustrate what it means to follow Him?”

He often used symbols to get people’s attention. Laurie says Jesus did this to say that following Him isn’t child’s play. “It’s not a game and it’s not easy,” Laurie says. “In fact, it will cost you to follow Him as a disciple.” If you think about it, it’s going to cost you a lot more if you don’t follow Him.

He can tell you what it doesn’t mean to “bear the cross.” Laurie says, “People will often say they have a ‘cross’ to bear. You’ll hear, “My cross is my parents!” Their parents would likely say, “Our cross is the children.’ We often identify whatever problems we have in our lives as a ‘cross to bear.’”

That’s not what the cross means. It symbolizes one thing: dying to self. Billygraham.org puts it this way: “In Jesus’ day, a cross was a symbol of pain, suffering, and death. Jesus was willing to put Himself to death for our salvation.”

What does it mean to you to "carry your cross?"

What Jesus was telling them was to put to death their own plans and desires, and then turn their lives over to Him and do His will every day. And before you ask, that doesn’t mean we all have to become missionaries or pastors or Sunday school teachers. You can carry out His plans and do His will right where you are.

It’s easy to say you believe He existed (which He did – the Bible isn’t a fairy tale), or even to believe that He can save us (He can). He wants you and me to commit our whole lives to Him. To trust Him alone for our salvation and follow Him as disciples.

Can you put yourself aside? It’s never been a natural thing for me, and we human beings can sure be the center of our own worlds. What’s the old saying? “He can’t see past the end of his nose.” That means a guy or gal can’t see outside of his own problems, wants, needs, and desires.

Self-denial isn’t a periodic practice. We aren’t called to occasionally pick up a certain cross. This is a new way of life. We are often encouraged to “count the cost” of discipleship. The gospelcoalition.org says the real issue is our “willingness to follow Him regardless of the cost.”

Going back to the article by Greg Laurie, he offers a few practical examples of bearing your cross day-to-day.

It’s forgiving instead of harboring a grudge. It’s resisting the temptation to do what everybody else does, especially if it’s wrong. It’s being faithful to your spouse every year of your life after marriage. It’s putting down the remote control and picking up your Bible. How about praying when you’d rather be sleeping? What about swallowing your pride and telling others about the Lord?

In short, it’s doing what God wants you to do instead of what you want to do. It doesn’t have to be complicated, either. How about Luke 10:27? “And He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart (with everything in you), all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. And you shall love your neighbor (as much as) yourself.”

He said, "On those two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." In other words, if this is the way you live your life every day, you’ll be the person Jesus wants you to be. Have you ever thought about how it would sound to hear the Lord say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant?”

Jesus carried the most important cross of all time. Let’s honor Him and carry ours every day.