Our cross

 

(Luke 14:27) “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” 

 

As a child I loved the idea of a parent returning from their trip abroad, I will confess it was only because I was selfish and knew I would receive some kind of gift from a foreign country that was tucked away in their suitcase, just for me. It was exciting, the wonder of it all. When our beloved Saviour returns He will have something “tucked away” for us all, every faithful believer will receive their reward. In the moment in a twinkling of an eye we shall be changed. The dead will rise first and then those that are alive and well will also be changed and become immortal and receive their eternal bodies. If that hope doesn’t drive us to lay our lives down, I don’t know if anything else ever could.

 

It’s the transition of the mind that needs work in our lives. The way we process the information the Spirit of God feeds us. We often glibly say, "if only I could be more like Jesus", but I don’t see too many of us walking around with hammer in their hands and a pocket full of nails. Are we prepared to be crucified with Christ for the sake of the gospel? None of us need even answer that question, our lives will tell the story. And then once we understand the call of duty, how faithful will we be? And again, our lives will tell the story. But before we dare to land on any assumptions, let us remember, God commissions us to build our relationship with Him in secret. Prayer, tithes, giving to the needy, the list is lengthy. Nevertheless, what one does in secret will be rewarded openly.  

 

Let us not be fooled into believing the lie, there is a cost in serving Jesus, we are all called to lay our lives down for one another. We have been commission to deny ourselves by picking up our cross and mimicking His example. It’s not as if He was ever one of those leaders that cry; “do as I say not as I do”, He led from the front and by example! But it cost him a cruel Roman death, they nailed him to a cross, where he faced the wrath of his Father, for our sin. Do we understand the call? Has our mind been able to process the information correctly, or are we still hanging on by a thread, with one foot in the world, whilst clutching onto the Lord Jesus with one hand? Are we doing our best to milk both worlds, hoping that nothing is about to stretch and finally snap. The sooner we find grace to get out of that mind-set the better. That is a very dangerous place to live. We know that Jesus is coming as a thief in the night and only five of the ten virgin were ready to welcome His arrival. We must learn to "let go and let God…" but we can’t and we won’t if our minds have not yet settled on this truth. We must pray and continually find grace, “not to be conformed to this world” our minds must be “transformed” to follow the footsteps of our Saviour. Then once we realise the intensity of the call, we must understand why we are willing to respond favourably, it’s because WE HAVE A HOPE! One day we will receive our eternal bodies, and we will be numbered amongst the sons of God, hallelujah! The creator of the universe will look us in the eye and address us as son, chew on that, wow! I really look forward to the day where God looks me square in the eye and calls me His son. The blunders I’ve made as a Christian and still I am numbered amongst the saints of God, this is the God I will willingly serve into eternity and beyond. But we must realise that we have already been called to get on with it, even now we must find grace to work it out…

 

Let’s break it down, the Christians hope is eternity with God, with a body that will never age, we will be eternal beings. But before we get there, we need to be tried and tested. Not every enlisted soldier qualified as an instructor. Our training was on a different level. However, we knew that once we had qualified without “tapping out” we would receive our reward. But before the honour we were humiliated. The call to arms for the Christian is no different, in fact it is far harder and it is an impossible task without the grace of God in our lives. Nevertheless, we have access to an unlimited supply of grace, thanks to our beloved Saviour, that door is never locked, praise God!

 

If you believe to Christianity is a “free ride” you have been duped into believing a lie. (Luke 14:28)“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” 

 

Our call is to a petition of struggle as it’s preparing us to depend on the grace of God to get us through this life and into the next, where we will reap our reward. But the question I have for all of us, do we understand this to be true? Has our minds settled on this understanding, or are we still all over the place, is the jury still out? The sooner we settle, the easier it becomes to find the peace of God for our lives and it will “bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.”

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone