Life at the Cross

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In Mark 8:34, Jesus says, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

Here we read that our faith in Jesus, and decision to “come after” Him (8:34a) comes at a cost. Isn’t interesting that the moment Jesus reveals Himself to the disciples and they “get it” (Mark 8:29), the demands of their relationship dramatically change? Jesus goes from spoon-feeding them about the things of God, to calling them to an unyielding devotion, driven by purposeful commitment on their end.

In (v.34) Jesus says, “Whoever DESIRES to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

This is a very telling statement about a follower of Christ, and truly explains why certain believers are able to obey Jesus’ call to discipleship by “taking up” their cross and following Him.

There is a life-application here for us, which is this; in order to deny ourselves and carry our cross for Jesus, we must first have a DESIRE to follow Jesus.

 Jesus tells us in (v.34), whoever wants to "come after" Him and "follow" Him, can only do so through "taking up his cross". The only thing that can motivate a person to pick up a cross and die to themselves daily upon it, are those who have a "DESIRE" to follow Jesus. Simply put, there is no other way to follow Jesus. Once again, the easy road, and our creature comforts are not compatible with following Jesus. 

 May we be men and women who grow in our desire to follow Jesus, by denying ourselves, so that Jesus can be magnified in our lives.

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