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Take Up the Cross –Monday, April 2nd, 2007

“And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
- Mark 8:34-38

With one week away from today, there is no turning back. Monday, April 9th is around the corner. I am in this 100%. I have chosen to follow Christ fully. Regardless of how I am viewed. Regardless of what others think. My wife and I have chosen to give our lives to this cause. We believe the message of Jesus Christ should be made known in the city of Dallas. But it is important to remember, this effort can not be half-hearted. Christ didn’t say to His disciples, “Follow me whenever you can.” And He didn’t say, “Follow Me when it is convenient.” No, as He was talking to the crowd, with His disciples there, Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” As believers we are required to give up our entire being for the sake of Christ. We must deny ourselves. This doesn’t mean hate ourselves, but rather “give full control of our lives to Christ.” We are to set aside our own agendas and accept whatever Christ has placed before us. As Christ painted a picture for us to “take up the cross,” He meant that we should “accept whatever costs are involved in a life of complete Christian commitment.” If this means me getting ridiculed for putting up a tent off of Gaston Avenue then so be it. I will not quit. If this means getting labeled as a fool for Christ, I will not slow down. Why? Because I have chosen to follow in the path of Christ. And this path leads to the cross of Christ.

After yesterday morning’s church service, I discovered that an elder within our church was going to build a cross for the upcoming 40-day tent revival. What a wonderful visual and reminder for me. I couldn’t wait to see what it would look like on the land. To many, the cross only comes out during the Easter season. To others, the cross is a neat symbol hung around our neck. But this cross should mean much more than a “logo” for Christianity. The cross should be the example of how we live our lives for Christ. Jesus further explained, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Just as Christ gave His life in obedience to God the Father, we too are to submit our lives to Jesus Christ. For some, this could mean actually being persecuted because of our faith in Jesus. For others, it might mean quitting a job that we have been doing for 15 years because we aren’t doing anything for the cause of Christ. Whatever the situation is, we must be willing to “take up (the) cross” each and every day.

We must no longer delay this pursuit of Jesus. We might not get hit over the head and say, “Go.” We might not receive a “divine sign” that shows what we should do. Yet, we are still required to be disciplined enough as followers of Christ to follow in the foot steps of our Savior. Christ warned the people not to be a generation whom Christ is ashamed of because they were ashamed of Him. Therefore, let us pray that we will be a generation that follows Christ at all times and in all situations!
- klm
" We cannot organize revival, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from Heaven when God chooses to blow upon His people once again."

- G. Campbell Morgan


 
   
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