Tag Archives: pick up your cross

The cost of following Jesus

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What if I offered you something valuable – for free? You’d ask, “What’s the catch?” There’s usually some catch. It’s free if you buy something else. It’s free if you subscribe to a trial membership. It’s free if you just listen to a 45 minute presentation (that really lasts much longer). It seems like when something is free there’s always a catch.

 

So how do we respond when we’re told our eternal salvation is a free gift? In fact, you can’t buy it, trade for it, earn it or learn it. It’s a free gift from God for all who believe in His Son Jesus as the Lord and Savior of their life. Wait. Is that the catch? I mean, when I first came to realize in my mind and heart who Jesus really is, that didn’t seem like a catch. It was (and is) the real deal, like free food that tastes good and satisfies your hunger and a cool drink that quenches parched lips.

 

God’s gift of grace is free but it’s not cheap. Being a disciple of Jesus comes at a cost.

 

Jesus says “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37-38) Wait. Doesn’t Christianity value and honor families? Yes, of course. We love our kids and grandchildren. We’d do anything for them. I know you feel the same about your family. But if our parents, children, or grandchildren become more valuable to us than Jesus, He says we can’t follow Him. (The truth is we can’t love them best without Him!)

 

It doesn’t seem right or fair. When parents and grandparents devote their lives to teaching their children to love and honor God, they are in fact raising up the next generation church. It’s a hard teaching that about the roots of sin in idolatry. God says anything we put between us and him is an idol – even family. Is your family an idol? It may be if you find yourself saying, “I’d answer God’s call except for my kids.” A man said he would follow Jesus but first had to bury his father. Jesus recognized the man’s tendency to find excuses and wouldn’t have anything of it. Jesus loves children, and families. But He draws a line of distinction when it comes to loving and honoring God.

 

The gift is free but it really does come with a cost. Some think the cost is too great. Really it is too small. What is the cost to you? Do you really want to follow Jesus? Act as if Jesus meant what he said:

 

“Pick up your cross and follow me.”

 

 

Capturing the cross

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A caption in last week’s news is a reminder of why Go Light Our WorldTMpromotes the true gospel even in so-called ‘Christian’ countries.

 

The photo showed scores of ‘religious’ men diving off a dock into a cold lake in Sophia, Bulgaria (not far from the GLOW ministry in Vetren). They are trying to grab hold of a wooden cross thrown by the Orthodox priest to bless the waters. The men engage in this activity with hope that catching the cross will bring health and prosperity to the one who captures it.

 

Do void superstitions have influence over your life? Are “good luck” and “cross your fingers” woven into your vocabulary? Do you find yourself doing good deeds in hopes it will bring you blessing or good karma?

 

There is a way to capture the cross. And you don’t need to dive into frigid waters after some wooden icon. Simply bow your heart where you are right now, and extend your open hands in submission to the one who died on that cross and who offers His forgiveness and great hope to you. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you and show you the way you should go today.

 

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
– Jesus, Mark 8:34

 

 

The highest of virtues

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What would you say is the highest of all virtues? CS Lewis contemplated that in his time most would say it is ‘unselfishness’. At the same time he contended that great Christians of the past would have said ‘love.’ And he lamented how a negative term had replaced a positive one.

What do you think of when you consider the word ‘unselfish’? Is it putting others first or is it simply denying ourselves in some sort of regimented way? While self-denial is biblical and profitable for us, it is not an adequate replacement for the virtue of real love, is it? When you fast or give up something you enjoy for a period of time, this is not an end goal. It is a means to a greater goal. Jesus said that if we wanted to be his disciples we must deny our self, pick up our cross and follow him.

Our desires are not the base problem. Repeatedly, God tells us that he longs to give us our hearts desires. He promises unimaginable rewards, in heaven and now. CS Lewis: “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” (The Weight of Glory)

Let’s remember especially in this Lenten season, our ultimate goal is not to give up, but to take on the cross and thus take on the endless love of Jesus.