Wearing or Carrying?

Luke 14:27 (ESV)

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Good morning Zebras, When my son was little, his favorite ride at Disneyland was Thunder Mountain, a roller coaster that is disguised as a mining train. I think what he liked about it was that it was a lot more than what he’d expected. He had expected a tame train ride, but got instead a roller coaster. As he had once said “it ain’t no innocent train.”

That is how I am starting to feel about my cross.

I have worn a cross for years. It is so much a part of my wardrobe that when a parent in my class did a project where she took a picture of me, cut it into squares and then gave each child a square to copy and draw the child with the cross knew exactly what they were drawing. They didn’t recognize my ear or my hair, but they immediately recognized my cross.

And I thought that was cool.

Now I’m not so sure.

After reading the Gospels, focusing on Jesus, and really looking at what the cross means, I think I was wearing it too lightly.

To me that cross is the symbol of who I am in Christ, a new creature because of His death, protected from the penalty of sin and guaranteed a place in heaven. I would often find myself playing with it when I was nervous or upset to remind myself that God was in charge and that everything would be okay.

And that’s true but I wasn’t really looking at it from Jesus’ viewpoint.

For Jesus the cross was what he came to do. It was the place of His death, His ultimate obedience to His Father and where, for a time, our sins separated Him from God. It was not something He was anxious to do, and it wasn’t a cute piece of jewelry.

It is the symbol of what a God honoring life should look like, obedience unto death.

Now I’m not so sure I want to continue wearing my cross, just like Nick’s train, it is no longer “an innocent piece of jewelry,” because it is the symbol of not only who I am, but what I should be willing to do.

Love, Jill