 By James H. Cagle |
“But Job answered and said, Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together! For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up” (Job 6:1-3). “And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Lk.9:23).
We don’t know the exact weight of a wooden cross like the one Jesus was crucified on.
But our Lord makes mention of the cross that we must willingly bear if we are sincere about following Him (Mt.10:38, 16:24; Mk.8:34; Lk.9:23). This cross is synonymous with vexation; affliction; trial; opposition; disappointment; persecution; misfortune; sorrow; grief, and any number of other things that one may go through as they follow Christ. These crosses weigh heavy on the inner man and are often hard to bear. Daniel Webster says, “To take up the cross, is to submit to trouble and afflictions from love and loyalty to Christ.”
Jesus said this cross will include hatred from the world (Mt. 10: 22; Jn.17: 14; 1 Jn. 3: 13), having our family view us as the foe as they see us as the enemy (Mt. 10: 35, and definitely dying to self and denying our self-life (Mt. 10: 39).
Though these crosses aren’t physical and cannot be seen they are real and weigh very heavy. Job said the grief he felt and the cross he carried weighed as heavy as “the sand of the sea.” I find it hard to imagine the weight that was on Job’s shoulders during his trial.
The crosses that the Christians bear who follow Jesus will vary because there are variables and variations between Christians because of their different levels of maturity and spiritual strength.
The cross that the follower of Christ takes and carries is felt in the inner most being. It has a weight, and causes a strain, and applies pressure on the spirit. It is used by God for the Christian’s discipline, sanctification, and death to self.
This cross can be cast off if we decide that following Christ isn’t worth all the trouble it’s causing us. We must choose to take up our cross “daily” and follow Jesus.
We, thank God, cannot get the actual weight of our cross. If we could, we would begin weighing them and comparing the weight of our cross with someone else’s cross. If someone’s cross weighed more than ours we would try to increase the weight of our cross by adding the pain incurred from a hangnail, a smashed finger, a sore throat, a toothache or a headache. And then it would become nothing but a childish religious game.
Those who carry a cross and realize its power are fearful lest it be removed. Because having this cross removed is like having the hand of God removed and us being put on a shelf. This cross consists of all the elements which God in His great wisdom deemed necessary to keep the right amount of pressure on us. To keep us humble and trusting in Him, and to keep us moving forward and from turning to the left or right.
It’s obvious when we look at Christendom today that there’s not much cross-bearing. Because the virtues such as discipline, separation, and holiness, which are learned through cross-bearing, are missing. Too many Christians today have been taught wrongfully to believe that following Jesus is all about “sunshine and roses” and never “a thorn now and then.”
We will never get back to Biblical Christianity until we get back to taking up our cross daily and following Jesus, and walking in holiness in a sin-sick world. And, if we carry a cross now, we will very soon trade it in for a crown.
