Will you take up your cross today and follow Jesus?

[Crumpy]

We have ‘crosses’ to bear that give us no choice. We have to bear them. But, what about the crosses that we refuse to bear? Will you take up one of them today?

(you don’t have to say what it is; but, discuss if you will take up that cross today as Jesus directs us.)

 

[NotWorthy]

Taking up my Cross is easy. The problem is keeping that Cross and not dropping at the first sign of weakness.

 

[puzzleannie]

We have ‘crosses’ to bear that give us no choice. We have to bear them. But, what about the crosses that we refuse to bear? Will you take up one of them today?

(you don’t have to say what it is; but, discuss if you will take up that cross today as Jesus directs us.)

is it 6 am? is the coffee ready? then, yes.
okay, I will even do it if I have to wait for coffee, but I can’t guarantee it will be w/o grumbling, as it should be.
actually quite a lot of my cross bearing happens at night, since that is when most of my physical pain and symptoms worsen. Those are not the heaviest beams on my cross, however. For those, Christ is bearing the load or I would have sunk into a pothole and rotted long ago.

I learned long ago the futility of refusing to bear any cross that has my name on it (read Jonah) and the idiocy of going looking for a cross, when the one I need is parked outside my door.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

I learned long ago the futility of refusing to bear any cross that has my name on it (read Jonah) and the idiocy of going looking for a cross, when the one I need is parked outside my door.

…well said!..

 

[MarieVeronica]

Lord, please grant me the strength to take up my cross… again, with each new day You graciously give to me. Please grant me the strength to follow You… though the path be rough and rocky… and though I fall, often. Please grant me the grace to rise again, after each fall. You have taught me this past season of Lent… that there is no Easter… without first, Calvary and crucifixion. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.

 

[cheeto1]

I don’t have a cross, at least I don’t think I do.
Did Jesus have a cross before he had a cross?

 

[NotWorthy]

I don’t have a cross, at least I don’t think I do.
Did Jesus have a cross before he had a cross?

Was Jesus ridiculed and rejected before He was crucified?

 

[BarbaraTherese]

I don’t have a cross, at least I don’t think I do.
Did Jesus have a cross before he had a cross?

Hi Cheeto1…Praise The Lord and give Him thanks and I do for the gift to you of freedom from suffering! This is a great gift and blessing for sure, a great consolation and a witness to the fact that there is a state of freedom from suffering, pointing to our Eternal Glory in Heaven…a place where “every tear shall be wiped away”…
Jesus had many crosses in his life if you read The Gospels for example Jesus did an aweful lot of walking in a very barren and hot country and being human he would have felt the extreme weather conditions to mention just one cross, and no cross for Him so difficult perhaps as knowing that He was headed for The Cross and in Gethsemane the immanence of His Sufferings and crucifixion were so dreadful to contemplate, He sweated blood and asked His Father to free Him of the necessity to die, while accepting whatever His Father should decide…Blessings - Barb

 

[puzzleannie]

Did Jesus have a cross before he had a cross?

well, how many weak vacillating people, know-it-all people, quarrelsome people always fighting for the best place, people who constantly misunderstand you or contradict you, undependable people, or back-stabbers do you have to contend with at work or elsewhere every day?

 

[cheeto1]

well, how many weak vacillating people, know-it-all people, quarrelsome people always fighting for the best place, people who constantly misunderstand you or contradict you, undependable people, or back-stabbers do you have to contend with at work or elsewhere every day?

But are those crosses? I would rather take all those things
put together than to be crucified…

No I am not free from suffering, but what suffering do we have
that can compare with crucifixion? Doesn’t it trivialize what
Jesus went through to say that our mere suffering here is like
crucifixion? I bet Jesus would prefer the quarrelsome people
in His life to crucifixion (am I being quarrelsome now)

 

[NotWorthy]

But are those crosses? I would rather take all those things
put together than to be crucified…

No I am not free from suffering, but what suffering do we have
that can compare with crucifixion? Doesn’t it trivialize what
Jesus went through to say that our mere suffering here is like
crucifixion? I bet Jesus would prefer the quarrelsome people
in His life to crucifixion (am I being quarrelsome now)

Jesus Himself said that one must take up his cross and follow Him. Each of us has our own crosses, some are big and some are small. But we must carry them and follow Jesus, irregardless.

 

[cheeto1]

Jesus Himself said that one must take up his cross and follow Him. Each of us has our own crosses, some are big and some are small. But we must carry them and follow Jesus, irregardless.

Yes He did say that. But what sorrow or inconvenience in
our life is worthy of being called a cross? In other words,
what is the definition and requirements for a situation to be
called a cross like the one Jesus carried to His death?
He was actively and on purpose doing something that was
leading to His death. The cross didn’t fall from the sky and
land on His head.

 

[NotWorthy]

Yes He did say that. But what sorrow or inconvenience in
our life is worthy of being called a cross? In other words,
what is the definition and requirements for a situation to be
called a cross like the one Jesus carried to His death?
He was actively and on purpose doing something that was
leading to His death. The cross didn’t fall from the sky and
land on His head.

I think Jesus means one must be willing to suffer in order to follow Him. This does not mean that one has to suffer, just that even if one were to suffer, they would still follow Christ.

 

[puzzleannie]

But are those crosses? I would rather take all those things
put together than to be crucified…

No I am not free from suffering, but what suffering do we have
that can compare with crucifixion? Doesn’t it trivialize what
Jesus went through to say that our mere suffering here is like
crucifixion? I bet Jesus would prefer the quarrelsome people
in His life to crucifixion (am I being quarrelsome now)

I was addressing previous poster’s question about what suffering Jesus may have endured before the Passion.

 

[Cari]

A man prayed to God, begging Him to take away the cross he was burdened with, and replace it with another.

That night, the man was mystically transported into Heaven, where St. Peter stood to meet him.

“Come with me, brother,” said St. Peter, leading the man into a large warehouse, filled to overflowing with crosses of all sorts. “The Lord God has answered your prayers. You may choose any of these crosses instead of the one you were given.”

The man looks around with joyful disbelief, but which soon turns to despair. This cross is too splintery, that cross is too massive, many of them seem to be covered with wicked looking spikes and thorns. Not a single one looks like something he could carry.

Then, he spots it. Over by the door is a small cross, smooth and generally acceptable looking. He points to it, asking St. Peter if he may choose that one.

St. Peter looks at him for a long moment, then says, “But brother, that is the one you had originally.”

---

I try to remember this story every single day when I get to complaining to God about the crosses He saw fit to give me. They seem so hard to bear, but I think about what I could have, and what Jesus DID have, and I manage to keep my mouth shut- mostly.