The Cross, The Cost and The call

~ Chip Brogden

The Cross

"Religion seeks to reform a man; the Cross seeks to crucify him. Religion may fail to bring about the desired result, but the Cross never fails to achieve its end. Mankind will pursue morality, virtue, spirituality, even perform religious works and good deeds, in order to avoid death on a Cross. But there are no wounds, no scars, no evidence of having ever died and been made alive unto God. Either a man has never died, or he has died and been raised again. You cannot fake a resurrection.

"The Cross is the means by which God reduces us to Christ, that we may be raised to new Life. What cannot be accomplished in a lifetime of self-effort is easily accomplished in God through the Cross. We may take many shortcuts along the way and attempt to escape the inevitable, but the day we cease striving and meekly accept the Cross we find everything is done for us."

The Cost

"The answer to why there is so little power and genuine spiritual fruit in the lives of those who follow Jesus is a simple one: they desire the Life of the Lord, but not His Death. They want a daily pouring out of the Lord’s Life, but they shun the prospect of daily sharing in His Death.

"What does it cost to become a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ? Forget the outward things and go right to the heart of the matter. Only one thing is necessary, and if we give up this one thing then we are qualified to be disciples of the Lord. What is the one thing? All we have to give up is our way. And if we are willing to give up our way then we have, in effect, given up everything. The cost is great, but the reward is greater."

The Call

"As we walk the narrow way we are being changed from glory to glory. Today we should reflect a little more of the glory of God than yesterday; tomorrow we will reflect yet more than we did today. This is spiritual growth. Spiritual growth is not more knowledge or increase of years: it is simply more of Jesus and less of me. He increases as I decrease. This is what it means to be a disciple.

"Christ says we must die in order to live; we must first take up the Cross before we are fit to follow Him. This is the call of the Cross. Who will accept it?"