Crosses All Around

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”
Mark 8:34–9:1

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Crosses All Around
To deny yourself is tough work. The Lord calls us to put others first and ourselves last. He calls on us to pick up crosses and carry them. He isn’t talking about a nice necklace around your neck. He is talking about heavy, burdensome, unbearable crosses that require all your strength and attention. The thing about crosses is that you don’t get to pick them. Jesus sends them. He sends them to you and me. We are not the designers of our crosses. If we were, we would pick their weight and size. Crosses crush and discipline. Crosses make the weak strong. Crosses are never something we like. But Jesus takes up the worst of all crosses. He takes the heaviest and the most dangerous of crosses. He takes the cross of our sin and death. He takes the cross that is the battle against the devil. He takes the cross of Golgatha and he is triumphant for you. Your suffering is nothing compared to his, but you are blessed to suffer with him. You don’t have crosses for Jesus. He takes the cross for you. You suffer with Jesus. It is an honor to be like our Lord. One day, soon, we will be like his glorious body. We will be transferred to his loving arms in heaven. Until then, we suffer with Jesus here. He never leaves us.