At the Table | Deciding to Follow

23 Jesus said to everyone, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me. 24 All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will save them.

Luke 9:23-24 (Common English Bible)

Mary Poppins may have sang, "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down," but sometimes the medicine that heals us tastes terrible. Sometimes the exercise that strengthens us makes our muscles ache. Sometimes the conversations that restore our relationships are the hardest ones to have. And sometimes following Jesus requires us to do things that feel counterintuitive.

When Jesus talks about denying ourselves and taking up our cross, he's not being mean or trying to make our lives miserable. He's like a doctor prescribing medicine that we need, even if it doesn't taste good. He knows what will truly heal us and make us whole.

The world tells us to put ourselves first, to look out for number one, to grab all the happiness we can get. But Jesus says the path to real life actually goes in the opposite direction. Real life comes through self-sacrifice. Real joy comes through serving others. Real fulfillment comes through following God's plan instead of our own.

This isn't masochism or self-hatred. It's recognizing that our natural instincts – the ones that tell us to be selfish, to hold grudges, to take the easy way out – aren't actually leading us to the life we want. They're leading us away from it.

When we deny our selfish impulses and choose to love instead of hate, serve instead of being served, forgive instead of holding grudges, we discover something amazing. We don't lose ourselves, we find ourselves. We don't become less happy, we find a deeper joy than we've ever known.

Taking up our cross daily means making these choices over and over again. It means waking up each morning and deciding to follow Jesus' way instead of our way. It means trusting that God's plan for our lives is better than our plan, even when we can't see how.

Personal Application: What feels like "taking up your cross" in your life right now? What is God asking you to sacrifice or let go of? Instead of resisting, how might you trust that God's way leads to real life?

Prayer: Jesus, your way often feels backwards to me. When you ask me to deny myself, I want to assert myself. When you call me to sacrifice, I want to grab for more. Help me trust that you know the way to real life, even when it feels hard to swallow. Give me courage to take up my cross daily and follow you. Amen.