My Daily Cross

Summoning the crowd along with His disciples, He said to them, “If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it.
Mark 8:34‭-‬35 HCSB

Just prior to these verses Jesus had be teaching His disciples around what must happen to Him, that He would die on a cross. We also have Peter's famous attempt at intervention only to have Jesus rebuke him. Jesus then draws His disciples and the crowd and starts to teach about picking up one's personal cross and following Him.

This is an opportune time for the disciples as they watched the altercation between Peter and Jesus. This teaching is new and not what they expect. The fact that Jesus uses a cross as an example would cut deep as the cross is abhorrent to the Jew. The cross was a Roman invention for suffering. Here was Jesus using a cross to explain daily attitude and life.

We non-Jews may not appreciate the horror associated with what Jesus is saying. However, here it is for us. Each of us has a cross to bear. We will not necessarily be crucified as Jesus was, thankfully He did that for us. However we each have a load to bear. What is your load?

We cannot expect Jesus to make our lives a bed of roses, but He will give us joy on the journey.

Prayer: Jesus I come to You and am willing to carry my cross. I ask for Your grace and strength in my journey. Amen!