"And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." Matthew 10:38
The cross should become very personal. It must become in our experience a personalized cross. What do I mean by a personalized cross? The above verse indicates that if a man is going to follow the Lord, he has to deny himself and take up his cross—his cross—and follow the Lord. It is always his cross. The Lord Jesus had His cross. He had the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the religious people 2,000 years ago. He had His Judas. He had His environment that was against Him, that was ordered before the foundation of the world (Acts 2:23). The Lord had his own personal set of circumstances, His own trials, which were sent by God. He accepted everything, without exception. Watch Him when He was under temptation or was tested by those who sought to stop him. And now the Lord tells us to follow Him. Each person has to take up his/her cross. It must become personalized. We must see our environment in the same way the Lord saw His environment. For God's plan to be worked out in us requires death and resurrection. We have to have our cross and know it in a personal way. In Mark 8:34 the Lord said, "Let him deny himself, and take up his cross." This means the Lord has allowed certain situations. He has allowed certain troubles and insults. He has allowed a certain kind of husband, wife, or children. Each of these is a certain kind of environment. And for each, we have to take up the cross in a personal way. Let a man take up his personalized cross. To take up our cross means to embrace what God allows in our lives. It means to embrace our environment as the outward cross the Lord has sent to us. The cross must become that personal. But have we really personalized it? For example, when you complain about your husband, when you have an issue with your wife, when you are hoping that the other person will change—he or she is too hard on you and it is too difficult—when you have a blaming attitude, wanting to change the situation, it indicates that you are a person who has not embraced your cross. The Lord says to such a person, "Let him take up his cross, and follow Me."
The cross should become very personal. It must become in our experience a personalized cross. What do I mean by a personalized cross? The above verse indicates that if a man is going to follow the Lord, he has to deny himself and take up his cross—his cross—and follow the Lord. It is always his cross. The Lord Jesus had His cross. He had the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the religious people 2,000 years ago. He had His Judas. He had His environment that was against Him, that was ordered before the foundation of the world (Acts 2:23). The Lord had his own personal set of circumstances, His own trials, which were sent by God. He accepted everything, without exception. Watch Him when He was under temptation or was tested by those who sought to stop him. And now the Lord tells us to follow Him. Each person has to take up his/her cross. It must become personalized. We must see our environment in the same way the Lord saw His environment. For God's plan to be worked out in us requires death and resurrection. We have to have our cross and know it in a personal way. In Mark 8:34 the Lord said, "Let him deny himself, and take up his cross." This means the Lord has allowed certain situations. He has allowed certain troubles and insults. He has allowed a certain kind of husband, wife, or children. Each of these is a certain kind of environment. And for each, we have to take up the cross in a personal way. Let a man take up his personalized cross. To take up our cross means to embrace what God allows in our lives. It means to embrace our environment as the outward cross the Lord has sent to us. The cross must become that personal. But have we really personalized it? For example, when you complain about your husband, when you have an issue with your wife, when you are hoping that the other person will change—he or she is too hard on you and it is too difficult—when you have a blaming attitude, wanting to change the situation, it indicates that you are a person who has not embraced your cross. The Lord says to such a person, "Let him take up his cross, and follow Me."
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