What does it mean to take up our cross and follow Him

In our day, the cross is very popular, even among non-Christians. It is worn on necklaces or in other ways as a charm or symbol of salvation. However, in the days of Jesus, the cross carried a more sombre symbol. It was the most dreadful and agonizing form of execution used by the Roman Empire. The phrase “take up your cross” referred to the Roman custom of requiring the condemned criminal to carry the cross on which he was to suffer and die.
“Taking up your cross” involves cheerful submission to the trials and afflictions that God allows in the course of following Him.There are great benefits for those who take up their cross and follow Jesus:Victory over temptation to sin: “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin” (I Peter 4:1).Intimate fellowship with Christ: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Philippians 3:10).Fulfilling God’s purpose for your life: “For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” (I Peter 2:20–21).Cross-bearing flows out of love for Christ and involves doing whatever is necessary to accomplish God’s will.What does it mean to take up your cross daily? It means ceasing to make independent, selfish decisions and beginning to fully follow God’s will.It means going beyond short-term commitments to total surrender to God.It means not focusing on personal pleasures but instead living for God.It means patiently enduring ridicule because of a glorious goal to achieve.It means evaluating every word and deed based on how they show God’s love.It means forsaking the distraction of worldly things and activities.How will you recognize your cross? Usually it comes in the form of God-given responsibilities and includes whatever pain, sacrifice, and effort must be expended to carry out those responsibilities for the sake of Christ. Your cross may consist of the very things that you have been complaining about and asking God to remove. This was true in Paul’s case. After three petitions for deliverance from his thorn in the flesh, God revealed to Paul that this was his “cross to bear.” Thereafter Paul gloried in his infirmities, and the burden of them was transformed into a blessing and a channel of God’s power. (See II Corinthians 12:7–10.)Taking up your cross will require daily actions, but these should be a natural outgrowth of the unconditional surrender to God that you have already made. At any point Jesus could have dropped His cross and gone His own way. What a tragic loss that would have been for the world and for each of us.
Christ said :"Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27).We can expect to encounter trials and tribulations as we take up our cross and follow Jesus, because the servant is not greater than his Lord (see Matthew 10:24). If envious religious leaders and the crowds reviled Jesus, they will also revile us. However, there is much to gain by going through public reproach for our faith. “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified” (I Peter 4:14).The Apostle Paul suffered greatly as he carried out the work God called him to. He was thrown into prison, threatened, flogged, and beaten, but still he wrote, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). Paul goes on to explain that he is able to have this perspective because “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).Carrying our cross as we follow Christ should not be done grudgingly as a necessary evil, but we should rejoice in the fact that it is ultimately for our good and will bring glory to God. “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven …” (Luke 6:22–23).Suffering reproach for the sake of Christ fulfills the highest calling of man, which is to bring glory to God.Before Jesus died, the cross stood for a public curse; now it stands for a marvelous blessing. Before, it meant defeat; now it means victory. Before, it was a means of painful death; now it is the way to joyful life. Let’s follow in the steps of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, “… who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross …” (Hebrews 12:2).