There is no Christianity without crosses. The cross of Jesus Christ and ours. As the time approached for Jesus to offer up his body as a sacrifice to the world, He tried to instruct His disciples in what was necessary for their redemption. He set His face like flint toward Jerusalem with great determination to walk the Via Dolorosa. “He (Jesus) began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected… and killed and rise after three days.”[i] They simply could not receive this word and would not accept this teaching of Jesus. Jesus rebuked Peter for objecting to the idea of a suffering Messiah. He said that Peter was not thinking God’s thoughts, but the feelings of men. Jesus devastated Peter by telling him that Satan was speaking through the disciple. The only way is God’s way; the offering of a perfect sacrifice of atonement; the way of the cross.
“And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.’”[ii]
We take these words metaphorically, for the most part. In recent times thousands of our brothers and sisters have been killed; some beheaded; some crucified by cruel men who think they honor their god by torturing and murdering people who will not convert to their religion. Those martyrs considered their testimony about Jesus Christ more important than their lives. That is the attitude of every true follower of Jesus. But in reality, for most Christians, carrying the cross means doing the will of God daily, no matter what the difficulty or personal cost. It is an everyday thing relating to each moment of our life in Christ. Christ’s cross is necessary. Our cross is necessary.
The question comes from every follower of Jesus, “Besides offering up my body for my testimony, how do I discern the will of God for my life?” The beginning of knowing the will of God for our lives is to know and follow the words of Jesus Christ and His Apostles as found in the New Testament. Jesus said that every expectation for our behavior is summed up by loving God with all of our heart and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Beyond that, no preacher, teacher, prelate or holy person can tell you what God’s will is for each of us. This is discerned in prayer. I have a suggestion to help in this discernment. Ask a question, “What is God doing that is good in my life now, no matter how great, small, or insignificant it seems?” Follow the answer to that. Do more of that. Seek to cultivate whatever will further His kingdom and increase your love for God and others. God will help you discern His will and bring more opportunities into your life to carry your cross.
“O my Heavenly Father, I pray that you would reveal Your will in me. I will take up my cross and carry it each day. I need Your grace and Your power so that I may bear up under every circumstance. Help me to love like Jesus loves and to do unto every person as I would have done to me. Increase the ministry that you have given to me. Send me opportunities to build Your Kingdom, no matter how small the task many seem. Help me, that I may ever be faithful with my cross as Jesus was faithful with His. In Jesus’ name, I pray. AMEN.”
George Cargill
[i] Mark 8:34-35 (NASB) (Emphasis the Author)
[ii] Mark 8:31 (Author’s translation)