The Cross

The Cross

People wear it around their necks on a chain
They display it on their door
But do they ever stop to realize the weight of the Cross
And its true meaning?

The cross was heavy
It was difficult to carry
The weight becoming more burdensome with every step and every mile.
It was a place of torture, agony, and shame.
It is symbolic of death

Jesus said we are to take up our Cross
In order to follow Him.

The cross we like to take up is:
Lightweight
Easy to carry
Carried with pride

But....that is not the same Cross Jesus instructed us to take up.

His followers are to be like Him.
He was despised and rejected. (Is 53:3)
Jesus said the world hated Him, therefore they will hate us. (Jn 15:18)

The Cross was a place of shame for Jesus.
They stripped and hung Him naked, for all the world to see.
Yet, many are embracing the opposite - ashamed to dress Holy and modest while walking proudly around immodest and half clothed, striving to blend in rather than stand out and be separate. 

The Cross was a place of suffering for Jesus.
Yet, many today avoid suffering as they try to "live their best life."
The best life is not in the here and now, but in the one to come.

The Cross was a place of death for Jesus.
Are you dying to self and sin?

What Cross are you truly carrying?
The modern one that is light and easy?
Or the rugged Cross that Jesus said we must bare in order to follow Him?
What Cross are you truly carrying?