“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.’” (Matthew 16:24, NASB)

What does that mean, exactly? How do we pick up our cross and follow Jesus?

I was on a plane years ago, flying to appear on a Christian TV network, and decided to pick up my Bible. As I read this passage, a voice spoke to me, asking, Why would Jesus ask us to do something He could not do? I began rebuking the devil, who apparently wanted me to doubt Jesus’s power and authority. But the voice persisted.

As I thought about it, it dawned on me that Jesus could not carry His cross to Calvary. After His brutal beating, a man named Simon was made to carry it for Him. Then I was reminded of an evangelist years ago who carried a large cross on his shoulder, going town to town to preach the message of the cross. However, if you looked closely, you’d notice that his cross had wheels on the bottom. That works well when you’re on a flat surface, like a street or sidewalk, but what happens if you go “off road” like some of us do?

We’re sailing along in life because the road is smooth and life is good. But then something happens — you hit life’s curb and the wheels come off. You don’t notice it at first as you drag the cross across the smooth grass. Suddenly, though, the problem you tried not to notice gets worse: the diagnosis, the job loss, the divorce, or any number of life-changing situations. Then you’re off the grass and dragging your cross up and over the rocky path. You feel tired, but you press on.

Then you move from the rocky path to the sand, and as you drag your cross, it digs its way into the sand, going deeper and deeper until you finally fall to your knees and cry out, “God, I can’t do this!” That’s the whole point. We weren’t made to carry our cross via our own strength. We can be a pretty stubborn people, we Americans. There’s nothing wrong with being strong, independent, and self-sufficient … until there is.

In our faith walk, doing things our own way usually doesn’t turn out very well. I’ve done that — got the T-shirt and the painful memories. It only worked for Frank Sinatra in a song, not in his life or anyone else’s. Our cross is submitting ourselves to His Lordship over our lives every day, believing He knows what’s best for us better than we do. We choose to trust His plan over our own.

We’ve all seen little children who manipulate their parents to cater to their every whim. By the time they are teenagers, they are intolerable. When they are adults, it’s even worse. They’re not prepared for real life!

Yesterday we celebrated Easter, the day Jesus rose from the dead and conquered sin, death, and the grave. It’s not about the Easter Bunny, candy, or a basket. It’s about knowing where you will spend eternity. Yes, people die; we start that journey the day we’re born. But somewhere along life’s journey you will come to a crossroad. The choice: giving your life to the resurrected Christ and securing an eternal heavenly home, or rejecting the offer of forgiveness for your sins so you can live your life any way you want.

My spiritual mentor put it this way: “Sin promises to serve and please, but it binds and blinds you.” Read the story of Samson in Judges 13-17. Nothing has changed in thousands of years.

If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, my prayer for you is that you accept Him today.

Something to pray about!
Semper Fidelis