The Crossroads

"Anyone who isn't with me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me." - Matthew 12:30 NLT

I have to be dead honest, I haven't exactly been with Christ lately.

Yea, I read a few verses of the Bible each day. I spend a few minutes think about them & let them inspire me for a few seconds.

I talk to Him each day like a good buddy that's with me wherever I am. I pour out all my problems to Him, expecting some sort of clearance. I tell Him how great & awesome He is whenever I find the time...

I serve Him at church. Lead a youth group & lead others to worship Him. I actually enjoy it myself, but I'm not sure if He does.

I love things that are related to Him, blogs, music, festivals. But I never see or hear from Him directly in these things...

If all this doesn't mean I'm with Christ, how on earth do I be with Him then?!

The Bible clearly says that if I'm not with Him, then I'm against Him..
You gotta be kidding, I try my best to do what He says, I talk to Him like a friend, I do things for Him, I'm a fan of Him... & according to Him I'm still against Him?

Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." - Luke 9:23 NIV

Well I guess this is where the truth comes out.

The Bible doesn't say "If anyone is with me, do lots of things for me, be a fan of 'Christian things', enjoy everything about being a 'Christian', that way I'll be happy & so will you".

In fact it says something completely different.
It tells us to deny ourselves, to take up our cross daily, and follow Him.

Let's look at these one by one.

Denying myself huh...
What would that mean?
Off the top of my head, it'd definitely mean no more of thinking for myself any longer, no more of thinking about me & me & me & me all the time, but how could I apply that?
*searches up dictionary*

This definition hit me hard:
"To withhold possession, use, or enjoyment of"
So I pretty much don't own myself anymore. I'm no longer in my own possession, which would mean I'm in someone else's possession.
I also can't use myself anymore? That sounds pretty urgh... but if you think about it, it somewhat makes one less selfish. If you let another 'use' you, you're completely sacrificing yourself for someone else. That's love, & you can't get that from 'using' yourself.

I think we can get a lot from just this.
To deny ourself is to give up our possession of ourselves.
To give up control of ourselves, our desires, our goals, our strengths, weaknesses, relationships, achievements, everything~
And to put it into the possession of someone else.
The one that should've been in possession of us in the first place. Our Creator, Father, Friend, Saviour, Redeemer... the one that truly deserves all of us...

That's already hard enough, next we're asked to 'take up our cross'.
I was pretty stuck in thought at first with this, but I think with this we should look at the one who's already taken up His cross, Jesus Christ.

What did He have to go through as He took up His cross?
He lost all the glory that He deserved to become a mere mortal. He had to put up with us humans trying to challenge His authority. He was manipulated, treated unfairly, mocked & scorned by His own people. And worst of all, He was condemned to die unjustly, not cause He deserved death, but cause everyone else - all the manipulators, mockers, scorners, everyone that wanted Him dead, including us, deserved death.
BUT, as He took up His cross, the heavy old rugged piece of wood, up to the place of His death. He did it soooooo willingly, with no hatred whatsoever, but with nothing but love for all of us.

That's what I think it means to take up our cross.
Jesus suffered the worst for us, now it's our turn to do so for Him.

Now here I am, giving myself probably the greatest challenge ever... if I don't do all that I just wrote - denying myself & taking up my cross, I'm pretty much against Him as the Bible says.
I know that I'll screw up many times over, I already have, but the amazing thing is, that each time I've screwed up I've come face to face with His forgiveness & a chance to give it a better shot.

Now I'd like to extend this challenge to all of you, we're in this together.

Until next time,
Godbless~

Keep Making Me - Sidewalk Prophets

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