...anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
There are a lot of thoughts about what this means. Some folks believe it means they are to suffer with physical illness as a sanctification process. Some people believe that it refers to their personal weaknesses as in "I was born a slow learner - it's just a cross I must bear". Some say that it has to do with suffering righteously through hard circumstances. I'm not sure it means any of that. I took a look at what Jesus did - since that's what I'm supposed to do as a Christ follower and all...He healed the sick, he cast out demons and he...carried "his" cross...So, what WAS that cross? Was it something of his own? Something he deserved? Not at all. He was paying the debt for everyone who ever had or would ever hurt others, themselves or creation - making them free for all time if they chose to accept that grace.
Likewise, His followers are called to take up "their" cross. In light of this Scripture:
Galatians 6:2 - Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ,
I wonder if the cross Jesus asks me to bear is not supposed to be my own. I wonder if he means that I am supposed to reach out and help other people with theirs. See, he already took my cross and carried it for me. But there are people who don't yet know that he did that for them also. People are walking around with these huge, unnecessary things on their shoulders. As a believer who should know better, I've run back and picked up my old burdens sometimes. The war has been won but there are still battles to be fought. We have to have each others backs. You know how it seems easier to solve another's problems than our own? Maybe there's a reason for that. Even Jesus had help from Simon to make it all the way to the crucifixion site.
I can hear people yelling at me right now about the dangers of being a codependent and an enabler or a problem solver. Of course there are boundaries to this. But we're called to it nonetheless. We should always look outside of ourselves when seeking to do the will of Jesus.
Here's a practical example:
Recently I was thinking that I might be taking on too much by being in persistent prayer for a friend of mine who is in heavy bondage to addiction and self-hatred. But when I thought about stopping I had an image come into my mind. I was letting go of their hand, and they were slipping into a black hole. I realized it was not time to stop praying for them yet. It's not that their salvation rests on my shoulders (only they can take care of that). Nor does it mean that I am the lone ranger on their behalf....But I believe the message was that God was still asking me to "stand in the gap" for them (as we say in Christianese). Or in other words - help carry that cross until they get to the feet of Jesus so that he can lift it off.
.JPG)
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