Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus // Luke 9:18-25

“...whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” Jesus’ words here in Luke 9:24 are among the most difficult in the Gospels. Especially in this age of consumerism, where the message we are told is that we have a right to demand our way, the message of self-denial can come off as almost harmful.

And yet, at the core of Jesus’ words are two deeply held beliefs: that God is trustworthy and that there is a true self in each of us, hidden in Christ and untouchable by sin, that God is constantly calling forth. Thus, Jesus’ invitation for every one of his disciples to surrender, to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, is an invitation to discover that true life is found not in the countless things we think bring us life (sex, control, money, prestige, etc.) but in a life that consistently chooses God’s Way over our own.