"And He (Jesus) bearing His cross ... And He (Jesus) said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."
When Jesus told His followers to take up the cross and follow Him, He was not speaking of His cross, but theirs. Each of us has his or her individual cross to carry. They all are made of different materials but share a common characteristic: they crucify the one bearing it. It can be taken up, and therefore it can also be put down. It is a daily decision; although many have made it a permanent and ongoing choice.
Those who think they could ever carry Jesus' cross are delusional, to say the least. We're told at the beginning of His journey to Calvary that they placed His cross on another to carry no doubt because of His weak physical condition from the beatings and whipping of the previous night. "And as they led Him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus," Lk. 23:26.
But they soon found out, as well as Simon, that His cross was made for only One Man to carry. His cross had the weight of the world upon it and only the One who made the world could bear up under such a load. To prove our point we're told when they reached the Place of the Skull, Jesus was carrying His cross. "And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha," Jn. 19:17
Those early believers didn't complain about their cross. THEY CARRIED IT! If living today they would have gone their way rejoicing, and as they went singing:
"Jesus, I my cross have taken
All to leave and follow Thee
Destitute, despised, forsaken
Thou from hence my all shall be
Perish every fond ambition
All I've sought or hoped or known
Yet how rich is my condition!
God and heaven are still my own."
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