Take Up Your Cross!
Mark 8:34-38 (NKJV)
34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.
36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.
Most of us have heard the old saying “we all have a cross to bear.” This adage has been used to describe spiritual and carnal things throughout the years, but it has an important meaning. We see from the words of Jesus in verse 34 that if we desire to go after Him, we have to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.
Denying ourselves is a difficult, but necessary step in this process. Before we can take up our cross, we have to put down whatever is preventing us from doing that. That could be a job, a hobby, a bad habit, or even a relationship. No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and man. (Matt 6:24)
Jesus requires that we follow Him and ONLY Him. If there is something in your life that comes before Him, it is impossible for you to take up your cross and follow Him. In serving anything other than God, we are serving ourselves, and we know that it is ourselves that we must deny.
You might gain great wealth and fame in the world by continuing in whatever endeavor you are pursuing, but even if you gain the whole world, you have made no profit whatsoever if you lose your soul in the process. If we are ashamed of Jesus and His gospel, he will be ashamed of us when he returns.
Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. (Matt. 10:32-33)
Would you like to lay down the heavy burden of sin and disunity with Jesus Christ? Do you want to take up your cross and follow Him? There is only one way to do that. You must come into contact with His atoning blood that will wash you whiter than the snow.
- Eric Bullock, Evangelist
