Carry Your Cross- Our Cross vs. His

I just got to teach last night about Mark 8:34-38.  Over the next couple of days I want to share with you some of my thoughts on this section of Mark.

"Then He called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?  Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?  If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father's glory with the holy angels."  Mark 8:34-38

I want to examine several aspects of this section over the next couple of days.  I want to discover what it means to carry your cross.

So, the first question is: if I carry a cross is mine the same as Jesus' cross?

I believe the cross you and I carry is extremely different than the one that Jesus carried for you and I.  The cross that Jesus carried brought salvation.  The cross that Jesus carried enabled Him to have the full measure of God's wrath unleashed on Him.  The cross Jesus carried led to His painful physical death.

The cross you and I carry cannot be the same.  I'm not able to save anyone.  I'm not able to withstand the full wrath of God.  I might not die a painful death because of my cross, although I may be called to that.

I will examine more in the next couple of days into what our cross is, but we need to know that our cross is not His.  Thank God!

I believe that our cross is sized for us.  Meaning, I don't believe that God will give me a bigger cross than I can handle; although I believe we are given a bigger cross than we think we can handle.  Our cross is to be so large that we can't carry it without Him, but I'm sure that my cross is not too big.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:29-30, "Take my yoke (cross?) upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke (cross?) is easy and my burden (cross?) is light."  (Words in parenthesis are mine not Christ's)

Wow!  We are called to carry a cross, but we are promised the cross is easy and light.  Compared to what?  I'm not sure.  I guess it's compared to the burden of worrying about our life without the Almighty on our side.

I hope you'll stay with me on this look at what it means or rather might mean to carry your cross.  Remember, that God is not calling us to carry the same cross that the Son did.  Be encouraged and carry your cross today.