Carrying your cross

A friend was talking about carrying their cross the other day, and the context that they were using it in disturbed me.  I hadn't thought about that verse lately (Mark 8:34), about taking up your cross.  I remembered that I used to think that it meant carrying your burdens, but I thought immediately of Matthew 11:30 where it says, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light."  We weren't created to carry burdens.  There is also 1 Peter 5:7 where it tells us to cast all our cares on Him.  So then what does it mean to carry your cross? 

As I prayed about this I thought about Jesus.  His cross was a future event.  And it was something that He really didn't talk about until the end.  And the only reason He really spoke about it at all was because it was necessary in order to prepare His disciples.  As I thought and prayed about this further I concluded that the cross isn't carrying the pain of our past, but willingly walking into the pain before us.  You see, many are crippled by the things that they have suffered.  They learn to deal with it.  It becomes a part of them.  And it becomes a chain around them.  In order to escape it there will be more pain.  They have to expose it, face it, sort through it, and overcome it.  This process may come in many forms, but it is something that we shrink back from.  The thing is, if we come through it, we can then help others to come through it.  That's what Jesus did.  The cross wasn't a badge that he wore, it was something that he went through for the freedom of others.

Although He didn't speak about the cross much during His lifetime, He did need to live His life worthy of the cross.  He would not have been a candidate for setting us free from sin if He had not been sinless.  Even beyond that, setting us free was a life long mission.  He could have just come to die, but He also taught us how to live. 

So, how does that apply to us?  Some have the burden of health problems.  Their cross is to overcome it so they can help others do the same, and teach others how to avoid getting into the same pit they did.  Some have the burden of abuse.  Their cross is to overcome it so they can help others do the same, and teach others how to avoid getting into the same pit they did.  Some have the burden of anger.  Their cross is to overcome it so they can help others do the same, and teach others how to avoid getting into the same pit they did. Are you seeing a pattern here?  My challenge to you today is to identify your burden so that you can identify your cross, and then take the next step so that you can set others free.