Picking up my cross...

Yesterday I was teaching the youth group on Matthew 10:38-39 which says,

"And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."

I asked a couple of the students who had grown up in Christian homes to come in and share their testimonies. It was really neat how the Lord tied the whole together because one of the students even mentioned that verse and how it had impacted them without even knowing that I was going to share on it! And I later found out that that morning someone had also shared with them about treasuring their walk with the Lord. So God was beautifully tying everything together :)

But something which really stood out to me which I haven't noticed before, is that in order for me to "pick up my cross" daily I must have nothing else in my hands; my hands must be EMPTY. Empty hands means total and utter surrender.

Also, in order for us to pick up our cross daily we must first and foremost believe that the life lived in Christ is the best life possible. Once we believe that whole heartedly then the rest flows from us naturally. We often struggle with "picking up our cross" because we don't often believe it is the BEST thing for us. And until we believe it is the best thing for us, we will continue to struggle with it and it will become a burden rather than what we are destined to do. We'll often say, "I don't feel like doing it and I can't help the way I feel..." Well, guess what?! We can help the way we feel. The way we think results in the way we feel so if we can change the way we think, then we can change the way we feel. Romans 12:2 says,

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

Paul is saying that we can be transformed by the renewing of our minds and that the transformation and renewal of our minds is the will of God! So God can change the way we feel by changing the way we think. So if we begin to think that "picking up our cross" is the best thing for us, we will begin to feel that way too.

Seriously we have so much to gain in letting go of all the things we tend to hold on to and just letting God have the hold on our lives. But somehow in our minds we think that God wants to take away from us yet God just wants to bless us and sometimes His blessing us means taking somethings away from us because they're not the best He has for us.

So today I drop my hands... I surrender control... I give up my rights... and I pick up my cross and follow You Jesus. You are all that's worth living for and I would forsake everything for the sake of knowing You. Your love is better than life. My life in You is the best life I could ever have. Thank You for saving me Jesus.