Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross and follow me.’ (Matthew 16:24, New Living Translation)

How often have you heard that as a Christian, you must ‘take up your cross’? What is the image you have in your mind when you hear that? Is the image one of bearing a heavy weight of responsibility or sorrow? Yet, in Matthew 11:29-30, Jesus said, ‘Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’

Taking up your cross cannot create for you a hard, heavy burden unless you are willing to believe that Jesus contradicted himself. He bore the hard, heavy burden for us, once and for all. To take up your cross means to give up your own selfish ambition and take up the cause of Christ. Matthew 16:25 says, ‘If you try to hang on to your life (fulfil your own selfish ambition) you will lose it. But if you give up your life (your own selfish ambition) for my sake, you will save it.’

Take up the cause of Christ today!