Take up your Cross and follow me

Devotionals
#1

What did Jesus accomplish on the Cross? The atonement for sin, the final sin offering, to become our intercessor to God. Then why would he ask us to take up our Cross if he finished the work?

To me, and this is strictly my opinion, it speaks to me on how we might emulate his sacrifice.

I have lost people close to me and I have prayed for their souls. And now, I see people dying during this crisis. Today, a homeless man died, not from the virus so far, but from hunger. A woman died as she collapsed on the street and no one, not even the police came to her aid out of fear. She had a heart problem, not the virus.

I was very saddened by both of these reports. But I prayed for them and for many others. In my prayers I pleaded with the Lord to have mercy on their souls. I prayed that I did not know if they had a relationship or had received salvation. But I prayed for the Lord to have mercy and to place their sins upon me and not hold it against them.

I took up the Cross I believe. Will you be willing to accept the sins of others you do not know?

Something for thought.

#2

Take up your cross and follow Me” means being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. This is called “dying to self.” It’s a call to absolute surrender. After each time Jesus commanded cross bearing, He said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? Luke 9:24-25. Although the call is tough, the reward is matchless.

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#3

For me the meaning of that word is Jesus wants to be an example how to obey God it means for us to set aside our priorities our problems and give it to him because we can’t served Him if we have many reasons that stop us to served him.

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#4

I agree with @Paulo_Juamis! Let us surrender our hearts to the Lord God and He will lead us to salvation.