Take Up Your Cross
I know you may be thinking why does taking up your cross have to do with stewardship? Jesus made a bold declaration to anyone who wants to be his disciple. He said, “If any want to come after me, they must deny themselves and take up their crosses and follow me.” One of the things we must do in being a good steward is to understand that we must give everything to Christ, which includes our money.
The story has been
told of a man who constantly complained about the size of the cross he had been
called to bear. He was convinced he had it more difficult in life than anybody.
Nobody had gone through the things in life that he had experienced. If only he
could talk to God face to face about this situation. His complaining was so
extensive it began to get on heaven’s nerves.
Finally an angel came down and took the man to heaven where crosses were assigned. He told the man, “Look, all you do is complain about the size of your cross. I’m going to take you into the room of crosses and you choose which one you want to bear.” The man finally got a smile on his face. When he went into the room, he saw crosses of all sizes. He was like a giddy kid in a candy store. Some seemed as tall as four and five story buildings. As he went through the room, he finally noticed two crosses, one was about three feet high and the other was four feet. He yelled out, “that’s the cross that I want!”, as he pointed to the small cross that was about four feet tall.” He didn’t want to seem too immature by getting the smallest one.” The angel said, “what, are you sure that’s the cross you want.” The man replied, “Look, you don’t know what I’ve been through. I’m not carrying any of these large crosses.” The angel said, “well the only reason I asked the question of whether you were you sure that particular cross is the one you wanted, is because that’s the cross you had before you got here.”
For years, many people have misunderstood what it is to take up their cross. It does not mean pinning a piece of jewelry on our clothes, our necklace or our ears. Our cross is not the boss on our job who gives us a hard time, a child that’s involved with drugs, a prison sentence that we are living out, an incurable disease that we have, or a problem in our lives that we would like to get rid of. Many times you will hear people say of something that’s come into their lives, “well I guess this is just my cross to bear.”
When we hear the word cross, we usually think of something that’s decorative or somewhat attractive in its design. It’s often pleasing to look at because that’s how crosses today are made. In the first century, when people heard the word cross, they immediately thought of pain, suffering, and death.
The cross was an instrument of death. After a criminal was found guilty by the Roman Government, the person would be forced to carry his own cross to the place of crucifixion. Carrying the cross was a public admission that you were wrong and Rome was right, and now you’re in submission to the government. People knew what it was like to leave a city and see people hanging on a cross in great suffering eagerly waiting for death to come.
You may not like this but you cannot be normal if you want to follow Christ. Let me clarify that. To bring Jesus’ words into today’s language, Jesus would be saying, “If any wants to come after me, let them deny themselves and sit down in their own private electric chairs to be zapped as needed and follow me.” Most of us would say, “You’d have to be NUTS to voluntarily sit in electric chair, with the electricity turned on. Suppose I get shocked.” The question must be asked; will we do or sit where God tells us to sit, or make up our rules as we go along? More Tomorrow...you are loved!
Finally an angel came down and took the man to heaven where crosses were assigned. He told the man, “Look, all you do is complain about the size of your cross. I’m going to take you into the room of crosses and you choose which one you want to bear.” The man finally got a smile on his face. When he went into the room, he saw crosses of all sizes. He was like a giddy kid in a candy store. Some seemed as tall as four and five story buildings. As he went through the room, he finally noticed two crosses, one was about three feet high and the other was four feet. He yelled out, “that’s the cross that I want!”, as he pointed to the small cross that was about four feet tall.” He didn’t want to seem too immature by getting the smallest one.” The angel said, “what, are you sure that’s the cross you want.” The man replied, “Look, you don’t know what I’ve been through. I’m not carrying any of these large crosses.” The angel said, “well the only reason I asked the question of whether you were you sure that particular cross is the one you wanted, is because that’s the cross you had before you got here.”
For years, many people have misunderstood what it is to take up their cross. It does not mean pinning a piece of jewelry on our clothes, our necklace or our ears. Our cross is not the boss on our job who gives us a hard time, a child that’s involved with drugs, a prison sentence that we are living out, an incurable disease that we have, or a problem in our lives that we would like to get rid of. Many times you will hear people say of something that’s come into their lives, “well I guess this is just my cross to bear.”
When we hear the word cross, we usually think of something that’s decorative or somewhat attractive in its design. It’s often pleasing to look at because that’s how crosses today are made. In the first century, when people heard the word cross, they immediately thought of pain, suffering, and death.
The cross was an instrument of death. After a criminal was found guilty by the Roman Government, the person would be forced to carry his own cross to the place of crucifixion. Carrying the cross was a public admission that you were wrong and Rome was right, and now you’re in submission to the government. People knew what it was like to leave a city and see people hanging on a cross in great suffering eagerly waiting for death to come.
You may not like this but you cannot be normal if you want to follow Christ. Let me clarify that. To bring Jesus’ words into today’s language, Jesus would be saying, “If any wants to come after me, let them deny themselves and sit down in their own private electric chairs to be zapped as needed and follow me.” Most of us would say, “You’d have to be NUTS to voluntarily sit in electric chair, with the electricity turned on. Suppose I get shocked.” The question must be asked; will we do or sit where God tells us to sit, or make up our rules as we go along? More Tomorrow...you are loved!
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