You may have heard someone say, “It’s just my cross to bear.” What does that mean? For most of the folks in this culture it means they have something difficult in their lives that seems to have no end or cure. But biblically it has a different meaning altogether.
In Matthew 16 verse 24 Jesus said this: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” Jesus was telling us that if we truly want to be his follower, we must examine our lives for anything that doesn’t agree with His teachings. This thing (or these things) are to be gotten rid of, to make us acceptable in God’s sight.
If it is our “cross” then it is probably something we really like or value. Some of us struggle with addictive types of behaviors. Some of us struggle with too great a fondness for inappropriate entertainment or maybe its money that we love. It might be our pride or an anger issue. If we look into ourselves with honesty, we’ll see that there is something that doesn’t belong. These are the things that would make us squirm if we were doing them with God standing in front of us.
So what if we don’t want to get rid of those things? God has given us free will, the ability to choose what we want in our lives and who we want to be. We are free to be His or to go our own way. Every choice has a consequence. As adults, we know if we break the law, we pay a penalty. This applies to God’s laws also. The consequences for breaking His laws though, have everlasting consequences.
Sunday morning Gordon Smith will be bringing us a message about what this means. Please join us at 10:55 a.m. in the sanctuary or on Facebook’s live-stream. We look forward to seeing you then! We encourage you to come as you are if you’re in town!