| Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." - Matthew 16:24 The cross is to be taken up, not simply supported when laid upon the shoulder. This implies willing, cheerful suffering for Christ. Some people endure trials, but always with complaining. The spirit of these words requires cheerfulness in suffering for Christ. Half the trial is gone if we meet it in this right attitude. Notice again, it is His cross and not some other man's that we are to take up. It is the particular cross that God lays at our own feet that we are to bear. We are never to make crosses for ourselves, but we are always to accept those which are given to us. Each one's own cross is the best for him. Sometimes we think our lot is particularly hard, and we compare it with what other people are enduring, sometimes wishing we had their cross instead of our own. But we do not know what other people's crosses really are. If we did we might not want to exchange them. If we put it on our shoulders a cross that seems woven of flowers, we might find it filled with sharp thorns under the flowers. The cross of gold that seems so bright might crush us beneath its weight. The easiest cross for each one to bear is his own. There is a way to get the crosses out of our life altogether. A father explained it to his child like this: Taking two pieces of wood, one longer than the other, he said: "Let the longer piece represent God's will, and the shorter your will. If I lay the two pieces side by side, parallel to each other, there is no cross; it is only when I lay the shorter piece across the longer that I can make a cross. So there can be a cross in my life only when my will falls across God's, when I cannot say, 'Your will be done.' If my will complies to His, there is no cross." The way to take out the crosses is therefore always gladly to accept, through love to Him, whatever trial, pain, or loss God sends. . |
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