Thought for the Day 4/9/2012
The Cross
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone
wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow
Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his
life for My sake will find it.”
Matthew
16:24-25 (NASB)
What would it mean to the
disciples to "take up his cross"? This was before Christ's
crucifixion, and the disciples had no idea he was going to die, much less be
hung on a cross.
Christ tells us to deny ourselves,
take up our own cross, and follow Him.
What was understood was that the
cross was punishment for a criminal. So...
are we to acknowledge that we are
sinners who deserve death.
We are to humble ourselves,
putting aside our justifications for our sins... and truly acknowledge that we
deserve to die for our sins.
How do we do this? Repent and be
baptized and follow him was the message of Jesus. Through repentance and
baptism we acknowledge our sin.
The beauty is we are invited to
follow Christ. We rise from baptism to
new life in Christ, always carrying with us our knowledge of our sins, but now
knowing that Christ can lead us to life through him. The life of this world
pales in comparison to the life Christ offers.
Anonymous