Daily devotional · March 16
Take Up the Cross
“Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose or forfeit his very self?”
Jesus speaks bluntly to anyone who wants to follow him: deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow. Those who try to save their life will lose it, but those who lose it for his sake will find it. It is a hard saying, and it was meant to be. The cross was not a piece of jewelry to his listeners; it was an instrument of execution. Yet the invitation is not to misery but to a truer life. Following Jesus means that we stop being the center of our own story. Then he asks a piercing question: what does it profit someone to gain the whole world and lose their own soul? Today, ask what you might be gripping too tightly, a reputation, a plan, a grievance. Consider one way you can lay it down for Jesus' sake, and let the freedom of that surprise you.
Prayer
Jesus, help me follow You even when it costs me. Teach me to lose my life in You. Amen.