Key Verse: "Then Jesus beholding him
loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell
whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure
in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me."
- Mark 10:21 KJV
You have not the liberty of making of your own
cross; although unbelief is a master carpenter at cross-making. Neither are
you permitted to choose your own cross; although self-will would
gladly be lord and master. Your cross is prepared and appointed
for you by divine love—and you are cheerfully to accept it. You are to
take up the cross as your chosen portion, and not to stand caviling at it.
This night Jesus bids you to submit your shoulder to His easy yoke. Do not kick at it in petulance, or trample on it in vain-glory, or fall under it in despair, or run away from it in fear—but take it up like a true follower of Jesus. Jesus was a cross-bearer; He leads the way in the path of sorrow. Surely you could not desire a better guide! And if He carried a cross—what nobler burden would you desire?
The Way of the Cross is the way of safety—do not fear to tread its thorny paths.
Beloved, the cross is not made of soft feathers, or lined with velvet—it is heavy and galling to disobedient shoulders! But it is not an iron cross, though your fears have painted it with iron colors, it is a wooden cross, and a man can carry it, for the Man of sorrows carried the load. Take up your cross, and by the power of the Spirit of God—you will soon be so in love with it, that like Moses, you would not exchange the reproach of Christ for all the treasures of Egypt!
Remember that Jesus carried it, and it will smell sweetly! Remember that the cross will soon be followed by the crown, and the thought of the coming weight of glory—will greatly lighten the present heaviness of trouble. May the Lord help you to bow your spirit in submission to the divine will before you fall asleep this night, that waking with tomorrow's sun, you may go forth to the day's cross with the holy and submissive spirit which befits a follower of the Crucified.
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