Cross Action

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

If Jesus went to the cross for me, why do I then need to take up my own cross?  The answer of course is found in the purpose of His cross and the purpose of my cross.  Thomas Watson said, "though Christ died to take away the curse from us, yet not to take away the cross from us."  The cross of Christ is where God's love and justice meet.  God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son to die in our place.  The cross is where God's justice is met, as God's wrath is poured out on His son in our place.  The cross says "It is Finished!"  There is nothing left to do in order for salvation to be accomplished.  If we choose to carry that cross, we choose to take the wrath of God upon ourselves.  Sadly, everyone who rejects the Son chooses to their own destruction.

Our cross, however,  is not the cross of the curse, but the cross of blessing.  It is the cross of dying to ourselves.  This means willingly renouncing any so-called right to plan or choose, and to recognize His lordship in every area of life. To take up the cross means to deliberately choose the kind of life He lived. His life included the opposition of loved ones, the reproach of the world, forsaking family, friends, and the comforts of this life.  This life also includes complete dependence on God, obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

I recognize that this does not sound like blessing but in fact it is.  For in taking up our cross we find life abundant and free.  We discover and are able to live out that for which we were created.  It is that path that yes may cause us to forfeit all the world has to offer but in return we gain our soul. 

I remember singing as a child the song by Thomas Shepherd, Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone:

Must Jesus bear the cross alone, 
and all the world go free? 
No, there's a cross for everyone, 
and there's a cross for me. 

How happy are the saints above, 
who once went sorrowing here! 
But now they taste un-mingled love, 
and joy without a tear. 

The consecrated cross I'll bear 
till death shall set me free; 
and then go home my crown to wear, 
for there's a crown for me. 

Think about it