I once heard a story of a prince who decided to follow his heart and live a free life. This prince from a rich family was denied access to everything the father possessed because he made a decision to live his own life without acknowledging the royal family. When we come to Christ, we do not leave Christ’s lordship to live our own lives. In fact, being a Christian implies that you do not have your own way of life but you have submitted to the Christ-way. Becoming a disciple of Jesus is a decision one makes willingly and this decision demands that Mr. Self is not running life for you but you put on the new man which is Christlikeness. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24) The road to the cross as we see in the gospels was not an easy one. Jesus had to let go of His majesty to make us royals. He had to humble Himself to the point of death. On a daily basis, believers take up their crosses. Those things that others do and go free, we cannot do them because we want to reflect Christ. Imagine going out with your friends on a Friday night and seeing them getting drunk, flirting with the opposite sex and some even indulging in sexual activities. First, the believer should flee from such gathering, it is not what we have been called to do. Your cross at that time is to be like Jesus even in the most unlikely place. Further, being a Christian has its own challenges. In some organisations, believers are tagged homophobic even without doing anything. Your colleagues at work may look down on you because of your “mindset”. You may be branded with tags and called names because you refuse to join them and do the wrong things. It is possible that you may be hated because of your beliefs. All these are crosses we carry daily and no matter how big or small your cross seems like, know that our Saviour carried the biggest cross (the sins of all humanity) so we can be set free. If you are told that becoming Christlike will deny you pleasure, remind them of the pressure many people go through in life because they denied Christ. The cross is part of our faith walk and we cannot escape it. Denying self and putting on Christ is not a one off thing. It is a daily relationship. You may want to count the cost of taking up your cross daily. Be encouraged that in this life and in the life yet to come, you shall be celebrated if you do not put down your cross. The songwriter said… Take up your cross and follow Jesus Take up your crosses everyday Don’t be afraid to say that you know Him Count the cost, take up your cross and follow him!
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