Carrying the Cross

Following Jesus and carrying the cross is not group work but a personal task

Beloved I am sharing with you a simple illustration that will encourage you as you carry your cross and follow Jesus on a daily basis.

Luke 9:23-26

“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. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for my sake the same shall save it.

For what is a man advantaged; if he gains the whole world and loses himself or be cast away?

For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words of him shall the son of man be ashamed when he shall come in his own glory and in his fathers of the holy angels.

This period of Easter reminds us of the cross of Jesus, His death and His resurrection. He dearly paid the price which you can never understand in this life time. There is a good parable about carrying the cross I want you to reflect on during this Easter period.

Three men were given a cross each by their master, to carry them to a certain Destination and they had to carry the cross for a long Journey, their master knew that by the time they get to the end of the journey they would be extremely tired because the crosses were too heavy and long.

But as they set off for the journey their crosses became so heavy for them yet they were not allowed to seek any assistance in carrying their crosses. As they were laboring and sweating on their way, different people advised them to trim their crosses and make them lighter and smaller for them to carry, convincing them that what matters is not the size of the cross but the image.

They tried to labour but eventually two of these men gave hid to the advice and trimmed their crosses to become shorter and lighter for them. So the crosses were no longer heavy for them to carry, but the third one refused to temper with his cross by making any alteration on it. These two gentle men traveled a 30 days journey within in one week as they went they could not stop, mocking criticizing and scorning their third friend who did not take the advice and had to pay a huge price. When the two gentle men who had trimmed their crosses arrived to the spot next to their destination, they got their so comfortable with no sweat, no bruises without any sign of traveling with some thing so heavy for them.

There was a very big and deep river where their master was supposed to find them and help them to cross to their final destination. But when they reached there their master was not there because it was not the time they were supposed to be there, so they had to wait for him while complaining and murmuring as to ask why their master was not there when they reached.

Finally the third person arrived extremely tired with scars and bruises and when these two guys saw him, they laughed at him, ridiculed him calling him old fashioned. While he was taking all the insults from the two friends, their master also arrived with refreshments among other things because he knew the repercussions of the journey. And all the three were very glad to see him and they all told him their stories of the journey to that destination, then he told them that those crosses he gave them were going to act as bridges for them to cross the river to their final Destination  and every cross had to only carry one person, so he told the first one to lay his cross on the river and the cross had been trimmed so it just sunk, told the second one to do the same and the same thing happened to him then the third one put up his cross and it fitted so well and he walked on it to the final Destination, so the two friends could not cross to the final destination and their master had nothing to do for them and that was their end.

But the master did not need the cross to cross over neither could he do anything for them from that point however much they cried to him.

With this story I need to encourage you to carry your cross as the lord gave it to you without trimming or modernizing it and to follow Jesus as the Bible tells you, not as any Pastor, Bishop, Priest, Apostle, Rev or any preacher but as the bible tell you.

Today many have tried to modernize Christianity lightened the cross and telling others that Christianity costs you nothing, please do not listen to such, the lord knows the time, the journey will take you.

Let us not be ashamed of our old raged cross and of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity is worth suffering for; you exchange your cross someday for the crown. Keep the faith

Steven Sebyala

Listen to Pastor Steven’s Sermon: The Cross