Greetings Dear Reader,
Often during his sermons, my Grandfather would say, “Whenever
you saw someone carrying a cross you said to yourself, ‘There goes a dead man.’” The man was walking through town with a
cross. He was obviously not dead but
that was just a matter of time not having gotten there yet. You knew the man was going to die very
painfully, very soon.
When Jesus addressed people wishing to follow him, it was before
he was crucified. Matthew records this: “Then
he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever
wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow
me.’”
The idea is that Jesus wishes for us to do three
things. We are to deny ourselves. This means that we do not matter to anyone
but Christ. Our pride, wants, and interests
must all come after the cross. It is not
about me or you Dear Reader. It is about
loving the Father and loving our neighbor.
This is so hard for some people that they have abandoned Christ because
what they want, for good or ill, is more important to them than faithfully dying
to self. There are also those like me
who thought they knew but in their knowing failed to put love ahead of
everything else. What it comes down to
is what we wish to hold onto rather than loving and following.
Take up your cross is not an unclear metaphor. It is the second part of the instruction. Most people carrying a cross were required to
by the Romans. We are being asked to
take it up voluntarily if we wish to follow Christ. We are asked to become the walking dead in
this world. We are required to deny this
life and carry the symbol of death through every moment of life.
Third, we must follow.
We must not make our own path or live our own dreams. We must listen, heed, and follow. It is not our life any longer. We are not allowed to give up, get derailed,
or fail to follow. When we choose to follow
Christ, we are giving up other paths. Keep
in mind that Jesus is not talking to only his disciples. It says he is addressing everyone there. He says that we must be disciplined to the
idea and practice of death to self. Only
in this Dear Reader can we hope to follow Christ well.
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every
writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a homeowner.
He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Contacts for Aramis
Thorn:
Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
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