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.
Luke 9:23 KJV
In this journey of discipleship, I want us to remind ourselves of an important clause. ‘Take up his cross daily’. The duration of becoming like Jesus is not fixed. It is a daily responsibility throughout a man’s life. It is neither monthly nor yearly. We must live out the life of Christ every day and in every location. Meanwhile, the church is not the only place to answer this call. We are to live it out in every aspect of our lives. It is the reason for our existence and the coming of Jesus.
Jesus came to the world, lived a righteous life, and was crucified and resurrected. All these show us how we ought to live.
One of the reasons we do not die the moment we give our lives to Christ is so that we can live the life of Jesus. It is to show the world daily the lifestyle of Christ. That is the cross we are to take up. It is to show the kingdom’s lifestyle and present to the world the difference. This is our duty. We are to live differently from the system that the devil has established since the fall of man. We are to show our faith daily. Moreover, since the children of the world are unapologetic about parading darkness, why should we as children of light be in obscurity? There is a need to live and show Jesus in this age more than ever before. We must not fail in this assignment.
Furthermore, we need to constantly carry the cross daily. The apostles did this and we must not slack. The highlight is that our sin was nailed to the cross and the old man died there. However, we need to see the cross as an instrument that crucified the world to us as believers. The reason is that it presents to the world that the system organised by the devil is powerless. Therefore, we must arise daily by placing the cross in the purview of the world. By this, men in bondage to the world will be able to see that the fancy system is a fallacy. Jesus has come to destroy it and to establish a new order- The Kingdom of God.
