Taking up your cross daily

Did you know that the moment you decided to become a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ you did not only receive the privilege and the right to be heirs with Christ but you were also tasked to carry your cross? In Luke 9:23, Jesus told his followers as we read below:

(Luke 9:23 KJV)  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 

Jesus pointed out to his followers, in the above scripture, that when you choose to bear his identity you must first deny yourself and then take up your cross daily. A lot of times many people profess to be Christians without truly appreciating what it means to be a Christian. Such people cannot be blamed very much because we are increasingly seeing Preachers who put so much emphasis on the benefits of being heirs with Christ with little emphasis on the cross we are tasked to bear, which is equally a critical part of being a Christ-follower. Please don't get me wrong. It is biblical to teach about the benefits of being heirs with Christ but there is the need to provide a balance in the teaching of both the benefits and the cost of bearing the identity of Christ. Dear Christian friend, as harsh as this may sound it is important to realize that being a Christian is costly and the life of a Christian is not going to be rosy at all times. I believe none of us who profess to be Christ-followers want to fall within the category of Christ-followers to whom Christ said: 

(Luk 9:62 KJV)  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

If you are in doubt on what it means to deny yourself and take up your cross then come along with me as we examine the scriptures on this very important topic for every Christ-follower.  

Denying yourself

A Christian, by definition, is someone who carries the image of Christ on earth. And to put it simply, when one carries the image of Christ it means living as Christ would have you live not as you would want to live. Some Christians assume that once our sins have been paid for by Christ's death on the cross all we have to do is to accept the gift of salvation and continue to live as we choose or please. In other words, refusing to align our lives with that of Christ. But what many fail to realize is that accepting the gift of salvation also implies we are undertaking to forsake our old ways of living and to adopt Christ's way of living. As clearly indicated in the scriptures there is truly nothing we can do to earn the gift of salvation, however, it is absolutely wrong to assume that accepting Christ’s gift of salvation absolves you of subsequent sinful living. Denying one's self, therefore, becomes the next critical step once you accept to become a Christ-follower. You may ask, what does it mean to deny yourself? Let's read the following scriptures which was written by Paul to the early Christians in Ephesus, Galatia and Colossae to enable us to answer this question: 

(Eph 4:22-32 KJV)  (22) That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; (23) And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; (24) And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (25) Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. (26) Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: (27) Neither give place to the devil. (28) Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. (29) Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (30) And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (31)  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: (32) And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

(Gal 5:19-21; 24-26 KJV) Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, (20) Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, (21) Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. …(24) And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

(Col 3:5-10 KJV)  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: (6) For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: (7) In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. (8) But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. (9) Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; (10) And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.

Simply, to deny yourself means to die to the “old self” or “old man” and to put on the "new man." When you refuse to let go of the old man after accepting to become a Christ-follower, it essentially means you are unwilling to deny yourself. The above message is as relevant to us, the current generation of Christians, as much as it was for the early believers Paul wrote to. I don't know about you but I am of the view that the issue of biblical morality, such as we read above from Paul's letter to the early believers, is timeless. For example, on what basis can a Christian justify fornication or lying in our current generation relative to the time when Paul was writing these letters? I have often heard people within Christian circles argue that chastity is "old-fashioned" and I have questioned on what grounds they arrive at such conclusions. A true Christ-follower must be willing to totally crucify the flesh daily with its affections and lusts and not attempt to engage in debates about the things we have been asked to crucify. The act of crucifying the flesh is our response to the gift of salvation offered by Christ to us who have chosen to follow him. Crucifying the flesh and its desires is possible if we have a willing heart to abide in Christ and allow his words to abide in us as we read in the following scriptures:

(Joh 15:4, 10 KJV)  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (10)  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

In Paul's letter to the early Christians in Corinth he uses the example of an athlete to illustrate how to bring the body under subjection. In the following scripture we read:

(1Cor 9:24-27 KJV) Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. (25) And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. (26) I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: (27) But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Are there areas of your life that you have difficulty bringing under subjection? Jesus, himself said in John 12:46 "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness." (KJV) That means it is essential not to continue in darkness after committing your life to Christ. Beloved, with the help of the Holy Spirit, a willing heart, and genuine repentance, our fleshly desires give way for our obedience to God's word.

Taking up your cross

You are capable of taking up your cross once the flesh and its lustful desires have given way to the obedience of God's word. The cross, as we know it, symbolizes physical suffering and eventual death. To take up your cross literally means a willingness to suffer and lose our lives for the sake of Christ. It does not necessarily mean you will lose your life as in physical death but you must recognize that it is a possibility. Let's read Luke 9 again and examine the context in which Christ told his followers to deny themselves and take up their cross and follow him:

(Luk 9:22-27 KJV) Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. (23) And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (24) For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. (25) For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? (26) For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. (27) But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.

Jesus was speaking to his followers about what he was going to suffer, in particular, rejection by the very people to whom he had been ministering the book of the law. This means a true Christ-follower should expect to suffer rejection from people in your close-knit circle (i.e. from within your family, among your friends, at your workplace etc.) unless they are Christ-followers who have also died to self and have the mind of Christ as you do. The pressures of life, and the desire to fit in has clouded the minds of so many people to the extent that we are increasingly seeing many who profess to be Christians compromising at the workplace, in politics, and even in the house of God. 

We save our lives when for the sake of worldly pleasures we refuse to identify ourselves as Christ-followers or when we feel ashamed to stand for what we truly believe from the scriptures and when our words and actions do not conform to the word of God. To be clear, we have not truly died to self if we find ourselves exhibiting any of these traits. You see, we live in a world system that runs counter to Christ’s teachings and that is why Jesus told his disciples that to follow him you must deny yourself and take up your cross. Until a Christ-follower is willing to obey Christ regardless of the cost you cannot consider yourself as taking up your cross daily. This implies a total surrender of every area of our lives to the service of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Just like David cried out to God in Psalm 51:10 we must ask God to create in us a clean heart because it is with a pure and honest heart that we can keep the words of salvation and bringing the flesh under subjection. In Luke 8, Jesus uses the parable of the sower to illustrate the importance of an honest and good heart in keeping the words of salvation and bringing forth fruit with patience.

(Luk 8:5-9; 11-15 KJV) A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. (6) And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. (7) And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. (8) And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.... (9) And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? (11) Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. (12) Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. (13) They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. (14) And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. (15) But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

We will be able to bring forth fruit with patience when we choose to consistently bring the body under subjection with a diligent heart and with the help of the Holy Spirit. You see Jesus himself prayed to the Father to give us the Spirit of truth to abide with us forever and so did Paul as we read below:

(Joh 14:16-17 KJV) And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (17) Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 

(Eph 3:16 KJV)  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

Are you willing to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Christ, even if it means losing everything for the sake of Christ? If so, then remember that your partnership with the Holy Spirit and a willing and honest heart is the key. In Luke 9:24 as we read above, Jesus told his followers that when choose to live to please ourselves instead of him you will eventually lose your life. The good news is that those who are willing to lose their lives for Christ will save it for eternity. May God help us to live not to please ourselves or the world but to please our Lord Jesus Christ who sacrificed his life that you and I can qualify to be heirs with him in eternity.
May God bless you!