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Daily Reflection / Produced by The High Calling
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Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”

Luke 9:23

Yesterday, I began reflecting on Luke 9:23-27, a formidable passage in which Jesus calls his followers to take up their cross. As I noted, Jesus’ statement might well have been heard by his first disciples as a call to literal martyrdom. Was Jesus saying, in effect, “Follow me to death in Jerusalem”?

There is one word in the English translation of Luke 9:23 that reveals Jesus’ true intentions: “daily.” The Greek expression kath’ hemeran means, literally, “every day” or “each day.” It is used, for example, in Acts 2:46, where it says that the first Christians “worshiped together at the Temple each day.” So, by saying that his followers should take up their cross every day, Jesus shows that he is not thinking about literal martyrdom, which happens only once. Rather, he is using the image of taking up the cross as a symbol for self-denial and sacrifice.

Jesus asks us, as his followers, to deny ourselves and take up our cross. This does not happen only once, in our conversion or in offering ourselves as martyrs. Taking up our cross should not happen only in times of spiritual enthusiasm when we might rededicate our lives to the Lord. Rather, we are to say “no” to ourselves daily in order that we might say “yes” to Jesus daily. Sacrificial discipleship requires a regular discipline of surrender and release. It means rejecting our self-centeredness, our desire to win and control, so that we might embrace the serving, sacrificial life of Jesus.

Why would we want to do something that seems so counterintuitive and countercultural? Yes, we might choose to do this simply out of obedience to our Lord. But Jesus gives us additional motivation. He says that if we give up our life for his sake, we will save it. We will begin, even in our mortal existence, to experience the life of the age to come. We will find our daily reality filled with new meaning as we seek to live each moment with and for Christ. Thus, we will find that in giving up our lives we receive from the Lord life that is more vital than anything we could experience when living for ourselves.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: What helps you to take up your cross each day? What makes it hard for you to do this? In what ways could you say “no” to yourself today in order to say “yes” to Jesus?

PRAYER: Dear Lord, I thank you for the clarity of your Word to me today, though I must confess it is a challenging one. I do want to be your follower. Yet I find it difficult to turn from my selfish ways and take up my cross. I am wired to live for myself, for my needs and wants, for my pleasure and glory. Forgive me, Lord, for the ways I put myself before you.

Help me, by your grace and through your Spirit, to take up my cross daily. May I submit myself to you, seeking your will and glory. May I use each minute of the day for you, whether I’m praying or writing, whether I’m sitting in a meeting or at the dinner table. Teach me to be aware of your presence throughout the day, not just in my devotions or in other obviously “spiritual” times.

Give me wisdom to know what it means to deny myself and take up the cross. Sometimes it’s clear what this involves. But, often, I’m just not sure. So guide me, I pray, that I might live for you and with you throughout the day.

I pray in your name, under your authority and for your purposes. Amen.

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