Take Up Your Cross

Luke 9:23. Then he said to them all "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me"


One of the key words at the beginning of this verse is all. The option is open to everyone. it doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter what you have. Jesus opens his invitation for all. Though, Jesus himself says in Mark19: 23-24 Then Jesus said to his disciples "Assuredly I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven",  but I'll get to that later.


Then Jesus says "If anyone desires to come after me" We have to truly want to follow him. We can't fool Jesus, there's no faking it. You may fool everyone else, but Jesus knows your heart.


Now on to the topic of denying yourself. What this is saying is that we have to deny our earthly desires, and spend time with God. This is where I'll come back to Mark 19:23-24. The reason it is harder for a rich man, is because a rich man has more Earthly possessions, and therefore it is harder for him to leave it. Would you be more likely to leave a pile of junk or a pile of money?

The cross was Jesus being persecuted. As Christians, we are going to be persecuted almost every day, but we have to turn the other cheek and walk in love. Just follow Jesus' example. When he was being murdered, he told God to forgive his murderers, for they didn't know what they were doing.