The Comfortable Cross
By
Elin Henderson
“…Come, take up the cross and follow
me…”
Mark 10:21b (NKJV)
We sing about the “wonderful cross,”
the “glorious cross,” and the “cross of victory.” But do we really understand,
in full, what the cross signifies? What it means for our lives when we are
called to take up that “cross” and follow Him? Yes, it is wonderful. It is
glorious. It does bring victory over death. But what about when Jesus carried
His cross? It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t comfortable!
We see Christ bearing up under the
strain of a heavy, cumbersome rough-hewn tree, but then we somehow envision our
cross in a different fashion. We see something small, manageable, possibly made
of balsam wood, sanded and varnished till it shines. Maybe there is even a
little cushion in the crux of it for ease in carrying?!
We want to serve, and we want to
follow His example in cross-bearing. But we often shy away from the suffering
and struggle it entails. “I’ll go where you want me to go, Lord! Anywhere…as
long as there is running water, electricity, people who love me, easy
communication.…” Of course, this applies to those in overseas ministry only,
right?
What about those at home? “I’ll
serve where you want me to serve, Lord! Anywhere…except in the dangerous inner city, or among those who might be
resistant to the Truth, or…” And the list goes on. We pick and choose the cross
we want to bear. But there is no window shopping for a comfortable cross. There
is one cross, and one cross alone, that brings life!
Ministry, anywhere, brings along
with it the cost of sacrifice. The cross isn’t meant to be comfortable, but we
are also not meant to bear it alone! (Matthew 11:29-30) He knows the weight of
the cross we are called to bear, and He will carry it along with us. Let’s not shy away from what is hard and
instead look for a comfortable cross. Rather, let us embrace the true cross of
Christ: heavy, rough and uncomfortable, yet all the while wonderful, glorious, victorious
and life-giving.
GOING
DEEPER:
1. Is
there a cross that God is calling you to today? What steps do you need to take
to embrace that cross?
2. What
things do you need to let go of in order to do so?
FURTHER
READING:
Oakwood’s missionaries Elin
Henderson (a registered nurse) and her husband Phil serve as church planters
with New Tribes in Mozambique, Africa.
Elin is mother to sixteen-year-old Callie and fourteen-year-old Elias.
