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- Apr 25, 2006
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Take up your cross (1)
'..."Let him...take up his cross daily..."' Luke 9:23
'Let him...take up his cross daily'. 'The load I give you to carry is light'. Both sentences passed through the mouth of Jesus. But isn't He contradicting Himself? I mean 'cross-carrying' is back-breaking work isn't it? Unless you're about to give us a polystyrene cross, surely the load you give us is one famed for inducing hernias, right, Lord? Well, no. It's a perspective thing.
If you think of God as dishing out crosses like a needle-happy nurse dishes out pain i.e. no-one wants their jab, everyone gets one, then we're in trouble. If we see that 'difficult maths homework', or that 'mate, who's always draining me' as 'the cross we have to bear', is it any wonder our load feels far from light.
What if you saw that 'difficult maths homework', not as a headache, but an opportunity to develop your problem solving skills?
What if that 'moaning mate', wasn't the person you hid from at break, but someone who you saw the face of Jesus in? Taking up your cross doesn't mean taking the weight of the world on your shoulders, it simply means taking on Jesus' attitude to everything.
So, rather than beg God to send a bolt of lightening up that 'pain in the neck' of a pal, ask God for a new perspective. Stop asking for a lighter cross and start praying for a stronger back.
written by Bob Gass
'..."Let him...take up his cross daily..."' Luke 9:23
'Let him...take up his cross daily'. 'The load I give you to carry is light'. Both sentences passed through the mouth of Jesus. But isn't He contradicting Himself? I mean 'cross-carrying' is back-breaking work isn't it? Unless you're about to give us a polystyrene cross, surely the load you give us is one famed for inducing hernias, right, Lord? Well, no. It's a perspective thing.
If you think of God as dishing out crosses like a needle-happy nurse dishes out pain i.e. no-one wants their jab, everyone gets one, then we're in trouble. If we see that 'difficult maths homework', or that 'mate, who's always draining me' as 'the cross we have to bear', is it any wonder our load feels far from light.
What if you saw that 'difficult maths homework', not as a headache, but an opportunity to develop your problem solving skills?
What if that 'moaning mate', wasn't the person you hid from at break, but someone who you saw the face of Jesus in? Taking up your cross doesn't mean taking the weight of the world on your shoulders, it simply means taking on Jesus' attitude to everything.
So, rather than beg God to send a bolt of lightening up that 'pain in the neck' of a pal, ask God for a new perspective. Stop asking for a lighter cross and start praying for a stronger back.
written by Bob Gass
