“…And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish..’” Luke 14:27-30 “Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.’” This is a passage of verses that is commonly misunderstood. How often have you heard somebody say “I guess that’s just a cross I’ll have to bear?” Most of the time they are not referring to the type of deep spiritual devotion Jesus was talking about. Often times people reference it about non spiritual things entirely. Jesus commands us to take up our cross each day if we want to call ourselves His followers. Then He makes sure to point out that there is a price to pay. We need to be conscious about both those facts. So what exactly does it mean to take up our cross and follow Christ? To understand the context of Jesus’ words, we must understand what the cross was. I’m not going to go into a big long history lesson filled with details of crucifixion. Most of us understand that the cross was used for punishment leading to death. When you saw somebody walking down the road carrying a cross, you knew their death was imminent. So, the cross is a symbol of death. Taking up our cross means we put to death our old nature to follow God at all cost. By doing so, He gives us new life. Taking up our cross means we spiritually die to ourselves. It means turning over our desires, our dreams, our ambitions, habits, thoughts, our self interest, to the One we choose to follow. Some of us never count the cost. Some of us chose to walk away before the job is complete, and turn back to our old ways. Is it any wonder the world often mocks Christians? They see people who never counted the cost and who never took up their cross, claiming to have lives transformed through a relationship with Christ. In reality, many of us are not living any differently than the world. Unbelievers see Christians who give to God the pieces of their lives that are convenient and withhold the areas they are comfortable surrendering. That is not surrender. That is in no way the image of self denial that God has in mind for us. This is not the life God intends for us to live. The story of Abraham illustrates the type of devotion we ought to have to God. Abraham waited many years for the son God promised him, then God asks him to do something that was a true test of his faith and devotion- off him as a sacrifice. Abraham must have been a little confused. That doesn’t sound like something God would do, does it? But being sure that he had heard God’s voice, Abraham knew that he had to be obedient. Abraham took the son that he waited years to blessed with and loved so dearly and prepared to sacrifice him. In the end we see that God was never interested in Abraham killing his so, He was simply seeing how great Abrahams love and devotion was for Him. Abraham passed God’s test. He was willing to give up what was nearest and dearest to his heart. How willing am I to give up something that might interfere with my devotion to God? These things don’t have to be inherently bad things, but they aren’t acceptable once they begin to fill up my heart and take God’s place in my life. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20.)