Taking our cross...

"And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." -- Matthew 10:38. Jesus making a very pointed statement in reference to the cost of discipleship. In order to be a disciple of Christ, we must take our cross.

Taking our cross.  The cross.  The cross is at the very core of our salvation as Christians.  Were it not for Jesus' death on the cross and the ensuing resurrection we would have no hope.  See 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 12-14.  But before the resurrection came the cross.  Christ accepted the cross and here in Matthew 10:38 He calls us to do the same.

Taking our cross.  We know that the cross was an instrument of torture and ultimately death.Knowing that we can get a better idea of what it means to take our cross.

Taking our cross.  As Christians, it goes without saying we are followers of Christ.  However, being a Christian goes much deeper than that.  The word Christian by definition means Christ owns us.  We are to follow Christ and be like Christ in every way.  This is taking our cross.

Taking our cross.  However, in addition to the above I would like to make one more point.  Often times we look through the gospels and we pattern our lives after the way Christ lived.  This is important and good.  However, what we should ask ourselves is are we willing to follow Christ all the way to the cross?  Are we willing to be like Christ in that we too carry our cross just as Christ did?  Are we willing to be like the apostle Paul who said in Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ"?  This is taking our cross.

Taking our cross.  Taking our cross involves dying, no not a physical death but putting to death our old man  (or woman) of sin.  It's quite literally putting our own desires to death and putting the will of Christ before our own!  Is this easy? Of course not. I personally struggle with this day in and day out.  My point is if we are not willing to make that kind of commitment, Christ tells us we are not worthy of Him.  This is taking our cross.

So my encouragement to you this morning is simply this. TAKE YOUR CROSS.  We can take our cross by putting the will of Christ above our own.  This means putting others before self and making a habit of it.  Taking our cross means doing the will of Christ even in the face of the adversities, difficulties, and discouragements that can come our way.  So take your cross, and follow Him who died for our sins, Christ Jesus who said "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me."

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!