Dragging the Suitcase

~~~ Romans 13:8-10 ~~~ Psalm 112 ~~~ Luke 14:25-33 ~~~

 

Hate your family, even hate yourself,

carry your own cross, denounce all of your possessions...

seek peace, then you can become a disciple of Jesus.

 

Jesus wants us to come to him stripped down to the bare bones.

We have to carry our own cross precisely because it is our cross.

What is a cross to us may not be a cross to another.

Our crosses are custom made for us.

Our crosses are our burden necessary to follow Jesus.

 

When we are separated from family members and also our possessions,

we cannot ignore our cross.

It is then that the cross becomes the focal point of your life.

When you have nothing but the cross you come to the Lord seeking his peace.

You follow him for the peace he alone can grant to you.

 

 

These high expectations of Jesus insures that we are looking toward him.

 

We cannot lay down our cross and leave it on the side of the road.

We do, however, have the power to choose the attitude with which we carry it.

 

Frequently I find myself dragging my suitcase around

or carrying my bag on my shoulder.

I have decided to use this opportunity as a reminder

of the cross I have been given for my own personal faith journey.

 

Jesus told his disciples to take nothing for the journey.

But he never said to leave their cross behind.

The cross we bear in life gradually forms us into the person

God intends for us to become....

IF we cooperate.

This is a big if since we always have our free will.

This free will is balanced with the grace we are given...

grace to carry our cross and follow Jesus.

 

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.

 

This verse is certainly not something new.

Today we are invited to reflect on how we are responding to our cross.

Blessings come in accepting our crosses in life as

 God's way to lead us closer to him.

Not always easy to see; I  must admit.