Take Up Your Cross

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." -Mark 8:34

This verse is DENSE. Maybe not at first glance, but when you start to understand what it really means to "take up your cross"...holy moly! 

Taking up our crosses means we are required to: 
- Be content with mundane tasks in a limited area, even when we believe we are better, smarter, or worth more than that. 
- Cultivate the same field year after year, although it yields no harvest at all. 
- Nurture kind and loving thoughts about the person who has wronged us, and to speak gently to them, take their side, and even stand up for them. 
- Openly testify about God to our peers who don't want or care to know about Him. 
- Walk through this world with a bright smile on our faces even though our hearts are breaking. 

[On a side note, I feel as though I have experienced each of these in the past couple of weeks. What a convicting message this is to me!]

ALL these crosses are heavy and painful, but we can be joyful in knowing that Jesus is never closer than when we pick up our cross and joyfully submit to his will. He does this to mature our wisdom, deepen our sense of peace, increase our courage, and supplement our power. Although it hurts for a short time, we will become a greater use to others through this. 

He must become greater; we must become less. Die to self, die to self, and die to self some more. 

With love and conviction, 

S