Take up the cross and follow

Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it."

-Luke 9:23-24

Life would be easier, wouldn't it, if we didn't have to take up that cross?

Surprise answer: No! It would not.

As hard as this life's crosses are to bear, consider how bad it would be if you did not have the promise "whoever loses his life for me will save it." Fact of the matter is, we will all lose this life. Your choice: it will end with meaning or end without meaning.

The cross gives the meaning that, at the end of it all, counts.

(Photo by Jeff Porter in Seoul, South Korea)

You can't earn this gift - but you can accept it

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

-Romans 6:23

I've seen and heard this verse all my life, but today it struck me differently. Too many people, I think, focus on the first part of the sentence and not the last part. For the moment, let's consider the last part: "... the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Notice too, that if you make yourself as a servant to sin, it's about wages - what you "earn."

Place yourself in the hands of God, and it's not what you "earn" but instead a gift. More than you could ever earn but a gift through Christ, through his unconditional love. An eternal gift - one that keeps on giving. Now and forever.