And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not
worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his
life for my sake shall find it.
Matthew
10:38-39
To walk in
the pathways of Christ, one must have a desire and be committed through all the
levels in phases of life that he/she will be exposed too… This voyage isn’t for the weak
at heart nor is it for those who don’t appreciate the trials and tribulations
that you will have to endure… This is why Jesus says that if he (anybody)
doesn’t take his cross and follow after Him “is
not worthy of me…” Taking up
your cross and following Jesus separates the true believer from the church
attendee; it draws the dividing line between those who are fighting the good
fight of faith and those who are provoked by the things of this world… Jesus
declares in Matthew 15:8, “These
people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Not everyone who attends church is a true
believer in Christ; not everyone who calls on Him through their lips has
allowed Him in their heart… Again, in today’s verses Jesus tells us that if we
do not take up our cross that we are not worthy of Him… To be counted unworthy
means that we have been classified as not fit, undeserving or shameful… The
goodness of Jesus outweighs the sweat and tears that will be poured out in
following Him… Jesus doesn’t lose when one doesn’t take up their cross and
follow Him, this is why you are the one who will be deemed unworthy… Are you
worthy today of receiving His unmerited favor and blessings upon your life…? This passage teaches us today that
taking up your cross is a (n) honor and a privilege that we should eagerly
undertake knowing that to be counted in that number is of the most value to our
lives… The gospel of Matthew
reminds us today of the responsibilities, duties and obligations that we have
as a child of God… So many of us walk around proclaiming with our tongue that
we are Christians, but Matthew informs us that there is only one way that is shown,
by taking up your cross… The term taking up your cross has several meanings for
us to understand and adhere too, but the biggest duty that that phrase embodies
is denying the desires of the
sinful nature and clinging to the will of God… The truth of the matter is that we all
entered this world as sinners and it is only by taking up your cross that we
find life and freedom… During the life of Jesus on this earth crucifixion
represented humiliation; someone who was being crucified had to carry their cross
through the city while people hurled insults and mocked them… Today we are
called to bear our cross and this is not isolated within the 4-walls of our
church… Just like Jesus, we must carry our cross throughout the city, no matter
how many people mock us, no matter how many people try to humiliate us, no
matter how many insults are hurled upon us, we have a cross to bear and must
bear it if we want to be with Him in glory…The bible says that “He that taketh not his cross, and
followeth after me, is not worthy of me…” The
proof is in the pudding and the reality is that we all have a cross to bear…
Understand
that in bearing your cross you will experience some bad days, in bearing your
cross you will experience some sleepless nights, understand that in bearing
your cross there will be heartache, there will be pain and there indeed will be
suffering… Jesus bore His cross and we find many times when He was nailed to it
that He cried out, He cried out because of the pain, the loneliness, the
misery, the discomfort and the heartache He felt and endured, but He now sits
at the right hand of God… We too have a place in heaven, but we must go through
and endure the agony, pain and strife that carrying our cross brings in order
to get there… When I read this passage in the bible, one word that comes to my
mind is sacrifice. Sacrifice is giving up, forfeiting or letting go… We must be
able to let go of some things in our lives, we must be able to forfeit the
desires of this world in order to obtain the desires of God, we must be able to
give up some of the things that appease our flesh in order to develop a more
intimate relationship with God… Matthew says, “He
that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake
shall find it...” So many of
us are wondering through this life trying to please everybody and live the
“American Dream” and the reality is that we are simply losing our chance to
receive the blessings that Jesus poured out on the cross… A Christian isn’t
worried about social status, a Christian isn’t worried about pleasing mankind,
and a Christian isn’t worried about materialistic things… We are losing our
lives everyday when we lose focus of God’s calling… Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that God
wants to give you hope, He wants you to have a bright future, He wants you to
prosper and reach the heights of heights in both your physical and spiritual
life… This passage speaks to
the fact that when we avoid our cross we place our values on all the wrong
things, when we avoid our cross we place our love in all the wrong places and
so we will end up dying and losing the life that God has for us… Jesus
sacrificed Himself physically (lost his life) and when He was resurrected
received all power spiritually… In bearing our cross we must understand that
this is not a journey for the weak at heart, we must understand that we must
cut some things off in our lives in order to find things… We must open our hand
and let go of some things so God can fill them with His plans and desires… We
are humbled by the fact that taking up our cross will cause us to lose some
friends, we are humbled by the fact that taking up our cross will have us
enduring insults and mockery, we are humbled by the fact that taking up our
cross will be a painful endeavor; however, we find joy in knowing that we will
find life, happiness, love, we find joy in taking up our cross because we know
that we will understand and fulfill our purpose, we find joy in taking up our
cross because we know that our labor will not be in vain, we will obtain
freedom, we will inherit the precious promises of God and that when this life
is over and we stand before His throne of judgment we will hear the Lord say, “well done thou good and faithful
servant, come on in and enjoy the riches of heaven…”
BE BLESSED!!!
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