Pick Up Your Cross

"6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." - Isaiah 53:6

That verse really bothers me. It bothers me because I am one of the straying sheep and it was my iniquity, partially, that nailed Jesus to the cross - dying - paying for MY sins with His very life.

Does that make you feel guilty at all? That someone died in your place so that you might live? It eats at me constantly. And what's REALLY frustrating is that no matter how hard I try, no matter what good deed I might do, it will never, EVER, be good enough to balance out the scales. I will never be able to pay Him back.

But that's just it. Jesus doesn't WANT to be paid back. He wants us to live. And to love.

Here's another verse that's been eating at me this week.

^"24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." - Matthew 16:24

What does He mean, "MY cross?" What IS my cross? I think we can figure out what our cross is by examining what HIS cross was. Yes, Jesus died on His cross but what did that cross represent?

Jesus was obedient to His Father. He asked that God "take this cup from me" yet He willing died  - following Hid Father's wishes. How do WE do that? Are we that obedient? No. Yet we have been commanded to be obedient.

I have heard people grudgingly say, "Well, that's my cross to bear." It's always about something they have been forced to do like "I lost my leg in the was. I guess it's my cross to bear."

I think what "pick up your cross" is supposed to mean is to sacrifice OUR lives for God. As Jesus said when He asked God to "take this cup from me", "Not MY will but YOURS." Sacrifice our sin-filled life for Jesus. We are to pick up OUR cross, sacrifice OUR lives, in submission to the Father.

What is God's will then, that we might walk in it and thereby please our Heavenly Father?

Love.

What's the first a greatest commandment according to Jesus?

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" - Luke 10:27

Love one another.

"As I have loved you, so you must love one another." - John 13:34

How do we demonstrate our love for God? 

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. - John14:15
 
I fail at that. I never seem to be able to follow ALL of God's commands. So what do we do?

We try. When we fail, repent. Then we try again. Jesus said follow me, not catch up to me and pass me. Let us follow God's example. Let us sacrifice our sinful lives for The One who sacrificed His. Not by our hanging on the cross but my following Him to that cross and laying everything down at His feet.

Jesus died once for all so that we might have life. Let us surrender our lives to Him, not ON a cross but AT the cross.

At The Cross - Chris Tomlin