Matthew 10:38 “Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”

Luke 9:23 “Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must die himself and take up his Cross daily and follow me.”

First, let’s answer the question, What is a cross?
it is a structure, consisting of an upright post with a cross beam, used as an instrument of death. Now let’s answer the question, why do we celebrate the cross? We celebrate the cross because that was the means by which atonement was made between God and humanity when Jesus died on the cross, and took our sins upon himself; He is to be our first love!

The Romans made people carry their cross beam as a way of showing their submission to Rome, their admission, or at least the perceived admission of their guilt, and that Rome had the right to put them to death.

Jesus was completely innocent of any wrongdoing, free from any sin, yet he took the cross beam and carried it after being beaten beyond recognition, for us. He took our punishment upon himself, our shame, and our humiliation. Because of the cross of Calvary, and the debt that was paid by Jesus, when we come to him in faith, repenting of our sins, and are born again, we can live confidently, without condemnation, knowing that we belong to him forever! We stand before him having been washed in the blood that flowed from the cross that day.

What does it mean for me to take up my Cross daily? It means we identify with him, we don’t hide it, we share it. It is knowing that we will face certain opposition, and possible suffering, because we stand in faith with Jesus.

It is a daily dying to our selfish desires and the sin that so easily besets us. We let go of selfish desires, to follow the path that the Lord has placed before us. It isn’t about gaining treasures on this earth, it’s about storing up treasure in heaven. We are called to live righteous lives, no matter what else is going on around us, no matter what the crowd is doing, if it’s not Christ honoring, then we should not be participating.
We are to look different than the world, act different, talk different.

1 Peter 2:9 “ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

We in the United States, do not face some of the horrible things that others do in other countries for standing up for their faith in Christ; many have been put to death because they refuse to denounce their faith, they refused to let go of Jesus. We must ask ourselves can we do the same? If the question is asked, “Do you believe in Jesus?” “Are you a born again believer?”… knowing it would mean your life, would you answer yes?

I pray that you will choose to look like Jesus today, to act like Jesus today, and to talk like Jesus today. And as we approach this time of year, where we celebrate the cross, we call it Easter… that you will truly embrace all that it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, and the price that he paid on Calvary’s cross for you.