Dying Daily

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

The slogan for followers of Christ could accurately be captured this way: Come and Die


The symbol for followers of Christ. . . is a cross. . .The cross was a symbol of humiliation. . . The one who had everything, made Himself nothing. . . If we are going to follow Him it means humbly taking up a cross and making ourselves nothing.

 The cross was a symbol of suffering. Taking up your cross and following Jesus can and will bring pain and suffering. You can't carry a cross without suffering. . . When people say yes to following Jesus, they are agreeing to carry a cross, and that will be painful at times. . . Here's a question: Am I really carrying a cross if there is no suffering and sacrifice? . . If there is no sacrifice involved, if you're not at least a little uncomfortable, then there is a good chance that you aren't carrying a cross.

 The cross was a symbol of death. Jesus invites followers to die to themselves. We die to our own desires, our pursuits, and our plans. When we become followers of Jesus, that is the end of us.

 We are by nature comfort seekers, not cross bearers.

 When Jesus calls us to follow Him, He says, "Take up your cross. . . " The word "take" indicates that dying is a choice we make. For a follower of Christ a cross is not forced upon us, it is taken up.
". . . take up your cross daily. . . " Every day we make a decision that we will die to ourselves and live for Christ. . . That's the most challenging part of dying. . .It's only by dying daily that we are even able to follow Jesus. . . In 1 Corinthians 15:31, Paul says: I die daily. . . It's only by dying to ourselves that we truly find life. When we finally let go of our lives we find real life in Christ . . When we die to ourselves and completely surrender to Him, there is a surprising side effect to dying; we discover true life. In a twist of irony we find that giving up our lives gives us the life we so desperately wanted all along.

  -From "Not a Fan" by Kyle Idleman

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