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Take Up Thy
Cross
By Grant Phillips
“And
when he had called
the people unto him
with his disciples
also, he said unto
them, Whosoever will
come after me, let
him deny himself,
and take up his
cross, and follow
me.” (Mark 8:34)
“Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou
one thing: sell all
that thou hast, and
distribute unto the
poor, and thou shalt
have treasure in
heaven: and come,
follow me.”
(Luke 18:22)
These two verses
have one thing,
especially, in
common. One states
it; the other
implies it. What is
it? Jesus is saying
in Mark 8:34, “Take
up thy cross.” He is
saying the same
thing in Luke 18:22
by implication.
In Luke 18:22, Jesus
was not telling the
young ruler that he
needed to sell all
he had and give to
the poor, in order
to follow Him. He is
not telling us that
we need to sell
everything we have
and give to the poor
in order to follow
Him. He was telling
the young ruler that
his “things” were
his gods. That too,
is the message to us
today. To follow
Jesus, the young
ruler needed to put
Jesus first in his
life, above and
beyond everything
else. Now it may be,
that we need to sell
some “things” and
give to the poor. If
God has called upon
us to pray about
another’s need,
perhaps He is also
calling upon us as a
fulfillment, or at
least a partial
fulfillment, to that
prayer.
Then Jesus said, “For
it is easier for a
camel to go through
a needle's eye, than
for a rich man to
enter into the kingdom of God.”
(Luke 18:25) Think
this out. Is it not
true, generally
speaking, that the
more we have, the
harder it is to let
go of it? Let me
give another
scenario. If one
person has a job
earning $100,000 per
year, and another
person has a job
earning $10,000 per
year, which will
have a harder time
if they both lose
their jobs? Which
will it be harder on
if they both are
unable to find
another job for an
extended period of
time? The answer is
obvious.
We need to consider
the possibility that
there may be
“things” in our
lives that keep us
from following
Jesus. We cannot
take up our cross
and follow Him, if
we already have a
full load of
“things” in our
lives … those
“things” that have
become our gods.
There are numerous
verses where Jesus
either says plainly
or implies for us to
take up our cross
and follow Him.
Bless yourselves by
reading the Gospels
and looking for
these instances.
There are many.
So we see that
taking up our cross
is not allowing
anything to come
before Jesus in our
lives. The pecking
order should be
something like this;
God first, family
second, others
third, ourselves
last. Notice that
there is no mention
of “things”.
Believe it or not, I
have noticed over
the years more
pastors than you
might realize not
giving of themselves
to their families as
they should. They
think they are
putting God first by
giving everyone else
their time, not
realizing that they
are not putting God
first when they
deprive their own
families.
What does it mean
though to “take up
thy cross”? From
what I have heard
over the years, many
people think (giving
two examples) that
if they are
afflicted with
illness, or have
family problems,
then this is “taking
up thy cross”. It is
not. Everyone has
been, is, or will be
afflicted with some
kind of illness.
Everyone has been,
is, or will have
family problems. We
all suffer the same
maladies in this
life, on this earth,
but that is not
“taking up thy
cross”.
My heart goes out to
anyone suffering
sin’s affects upon
this world. That is
not to say that they
are suffering
because of their
sin(s), absolutely
not. It is simply
saying that this
fallen world has
placed its curse
upon us all, and it
was caused by
original sin. But
these problems are
just that, problems
caused by a fallen
world. They are not
our “taking up thy
cross”.
“Take up thy cross”
simply means that we
die to self, as our
Savior died for us
upon the cross, and
live wholly for Him.
Jesus died upon the
cross, was buried,
and rose the third
day. (See 1
Corinthians 15:3-4)
Here we have the
cross, the grave,
and the empty tomb.
For us, we die to
self, we are buried
in Him, and we live
for Him. We can die
to self because He
died for us. We are
buried in Him,
because we rest all
hope in Him with
complete trust. We
live for Him,
because He lives in
us. That is what it
means to “take up
thy cross”.
I would like to add
that Jesus also
spoke of a yoke. He
said, “Come
unto me, all ye that
labour and are heavy
laden, and I will
give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you,
and learn of me; for
I am meek and lowly
in heart: and ye
shall find rest unto
your souls. For my
yoke is easy, and my
burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:28-30)
When two oxen are
yoked together, one
is always the lead
ox. Jesus takes our
load upon Himself
and leads us in the
way we should go. In
James He says that
He will give us more
grace to combat evil
desires. “But
he gives us even
more grace to stand
against such evil
desires. As the
Scriptures say, "God
opposes the proud
but favors the
humble." (James
4:6 NLT) Would it
not also be true
that He gives us
more grace for any
circumstance if we
need it? Of course
it would.
When we take up our
cross for Him, we
soon discover that
the burden is light.
Sometimes we are
afraid to step out
for Him, but once we
do, we find that He
gives us more grace.
He makes the yoke
easy and the burden
light.
I hope this has
inspired many to get
out of the easy
chair, so to speak,
and “take up thy
cross”. This is
where the Lord wants
us. This is where we
need to be.
Grant Phillips
grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture
Commentary
http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
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