Scripture: Luke 9: 23-24
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.
Scripture Commentary: Whoever loses his life for Jesus will save it.
Jesus gave His life for us. Why? Because He loves us, wants to give us a chance to repent our sins and have eternal life in His Father’s kingdom.
Jesus tells us to take up our cross. Each of us has one. This is an invitation from Christ Himself to follow Him into the world, carrying His message. Throughout the ages, those who did this were subject to death, persecution and torture. This is still happening today in parts of the world.
What does it mean to take up your cross and follow Jesus?
In Jesus’ time, the Romans used the cross to publicly humiliate the person being crucified. Before being crucified, the person was spit upon, and his clothes were removed so he was naked. He was then beaten almost to death, then made to carry his cross.
To be honest, would you put yourself in a situation like that? There are people in the world living under this possibility. We are fortunate not to be under this pressure; however, we may be called names or even killed but not like it was 2000 years ago.
Here is the question. Have you taken up Jesus’ cross?
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