MATTHEW 16:24

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

TO PONDER

Do you ever get annoyed when you are ALWAYS the one who takes the high-road in disputes, maintaining relationship, saying sorry, and doing all the work? I can relate, its hard… Welcome to marriage, and family, and friendship, and employment, and, I guess, life?

We are always the hero of our own story, better than who we really are, worse than what we remember and, more often than not, pretty selfish (sorry, this is probably just me!) 

In today’s verse we have Jesus telling his disciples about his coming suffering, death (a shameful criminal’s death) and his resurrection on the third day. The disciples didn’t get it, at all.

And then Jesus took it a few steps past the unreasonable when he said that unless they follow his lead and carry their own self-sacrificial death daily they weren’t his disciples.

Death on a cross was shameful, painful, and very messy/bloody and that’s what Jesus expects from his followers, expects from us.

Daily/ALWAYS, dying to our own hopes and dreams for the sake of the hopes and dreams of others, saying sorry first, forgiving before there is a “sorry”, doing the work, restoring relationships over being right.

PRAYER : Lord Jesus, thank you for carrying you cross, the cross you didn’t deserve, the cross you asked to be taken away from you in the Garden of Gethsemane with the hope of restoring me into a relationship with you, help me carry my cross daily with your sacrifice in mind. Amen. 

Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside