Pick Up Your Cross

Sunday, September 22, 2019

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Matthew 16:24–26

Henry Lyte’s father abandoned his family when Henry was just a boy, and not long after that, his mother and younger brother died, leaving him alone in the world. His academic brilliance made it possible for him to receive scholarships to study, and he trained for the ministry. Despite lifelong health struggles, Lyte was a much-loved pastor to his people, and the author of several beautiful hymns that we still sing today. In one of the best-known, Lyte wrote:

Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow Thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou from hence my all shall be.

Perish every fond ambition,
All I’ve sought or hoped or known.
Yet how rich is my condition!
God and heaven are still my own.

There is no salvation apart from the cross, and there is no true Christianity—the effective daily following of Jesus Christ—apart from the cross. There is a great disconnect between the spirit of the world which seeks to gain and acquire and accumulate, and the spirit of the Lord which seeks to give to others.

It was the custom in Roman times to force the condemned prisoners to carry the instrument of their own execution. When Jesus spoke of taking up a cross, it was a literal description of what He would do. It represents His willingness to lay down His life rather than holding it dear to Himself. When He calls us to follow Him, that sacrifice is a vital part of the process.

Today's Growth Principle: 

We cannot follow Jesus unless we are willing to take up His cross first.