Their Cross

3/1/2017

Mark 8.34-36 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” – Jesus

A recurring theme in my life is this: whoever want to be My disciple must deny [himself] and take up [his] cross and follow Me. This is way easier said, than done.

For one thing, what does it mean to take up a method of execution? Crosses then, were not as we consider crosses now. And doesn’t everyone want to save their life – don’t we hold life precious and value it? Jesus seemed to be saying: if you spend all of your energy trying to protect your natural life, you’ll end up losing your spiritual life. Then what?

And really, what good are possessions if you’ve built a life around attaining them and have no time to enjoy them? All the riches in the world cannot buy happiness.

A way of understanding what Jesus said might be this: Whoever wants to be My disciple must live for Me as I live for My Father (God). Jesus then, must be the entire focus of the life of the disciple. Again, it is easier said than done. Sometimes it is best to begin with nothing, than begin with something.

A life build with nothing is a life that then begins to appreciate everything. That might be denial or it might be the proper valuation of things. If you have nothing, you begin to appreciate something. We want it the other way around: we want something so that we can appreciate more. And we live to pursue more.

Jesus taught about the value of a soul – a life. Jesus taught about the necessity of denial. But in His teachings about denial, He underscored the abundance of life in Him – the life that goes beyond the pursuit of the things of earth. So, to deny oneself (according to Jesus) is the path to gain God, and there is nothing more, more than God. If it’s riches we want, then look no farther than God. The trinkets of earth hold no glory compared to God.

It’s counter to the way most of us live. Go figure, Jesus being counter to earthly culture. But if the presence of God is our destination then there is nothing we can bring that will add to that – apart from ourselves. The richest among us are the truly godly. And it starts with a method of execution: it starts with the cross.

My cross is my decision to take Jesus at His word. My cross is my surrender to His culture – the culture of Heaven – and to follow Him there; wherever He leads me. That is His way. True disciples follow Him.

Lord Jesus, today I start out with nothing but You. Today, I shoulder my cross which separates me from all this world has to offer and frees me to all You have in store. Lead me this day and strengthen me, as I begin with nothing, to receive from You everything I need for life and godliness. Amen.