Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 220

August 7;   Matthew 10:38;   10/260(II);   ‘Take Your Cross’

Matthew 10:38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

This verse is an incredible challenge to those who have purposed in their heart to diligently follow after the Lord Jesus.  It is a verse to be avoided or skipped over for those who have no intention of taking Christianity ‘that seriously.’  First of all, this verse obviously does not mean that we would literally have to take a cross and be crucified.  What we do have to crucify is our carnal mind and our body that very well may crave things that do not reflect the character and nature of our Example, the Lord Jesus Christ.  We are to follow after the Lord Jesus.  He was a Man of prayer and He grew in wisdom (the Word of God).  Because prayer is so vital and the Word renews our mind to God’s way of thinking, do we discipline ourselves to spend quality time praying and reading the Word?  How great an impact can we have on those who do not yet know Jesus if we do not pray and have little or no knowledge of the Bible?  This is part of taking your cross and utilizing your time in a different manner than you may have been used to.  There were times when the Lord Jesus ‘hung out’ with sinners.  He never compromised His righteous behavior.  His presence with them, changed them, they did not change Him our caused Him to be ‘just like them.’  Our adversary, satan, does not take time off from his efforts to destroy the lives of people.  The Lord Jesus never did either.  He was constantly seeking and saving the lost.  It is said in the Word that if all Jesus did in His three year ministry were written down, there would not be enough room to store the books.  Eternity is at stake. Serious stuff, Are you ‘all in?’