Our Daily Drag

“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Lu 9:23 AV)

We have remarked repeatedly on the basic requirement of discipleship in Christ.  That is to deny self.  This is not denying self of some pleasure or need.  To deny self means to deny one’s own existence.  In other words, those who deny self, find their identity, purpose of life, and pleasures of life in Christ alone.  To deny self means to deny one has their own independent will exercised on a case by case basis in submission to the will of God as it benefits self.  Those who deny self, deny any will of their own.  What we want to consider this morning is the taking up of one’s cross.  In particular, the daily requirement of doing so.  Once taken up, it must be taken afresh.  When we rest in deep slumber, the cross is laid down.  When we rise, it must be taken again.  This is the second step of true discipleship.

One of the reasons why we fail in goals that are worthy to be achieved is that we do not commit to them on a regular basis.  The goal which we once desired must be accepted again and again.  It must be seen as a fresh commitment.  The burden of a life’s calling must be accepted every day in which we are asked to serve.  Each day must be seen as a different day.  A day when new and different requirements of the cross are required.  There is an overall surrender.  At the beginning of the cross.  But as the journey of the cross progresses, there are new and different challenges to it.  If we cannot take it up every day, then it will lay undone.  The closest example I can come up with is a deer drag.  As anyone who has harvested a large animal knows, the hardest thing to do is to get it out of the woods and into one’s freezer.  Dragging a dead deer a few miles out of the woods is no easy feat.  Often times, it is one step at a time.  Most of the time, it is a few dozen yards at a time.  Looking down trail, there is a strategy of avoid obstacles like downed treed or thickets which are considered and conquered.  Every time the hunter stops, he looks over the terrain and recommits for another few hundred feet.  Small commitments accomplish the overall goal.

Walking in obedience to Christ as His faithful disciple requires these micro-commitments.  Taking up the cross for that day is often harder than one assumes.  Dragging that harvested animal the last few hundred yards is often more difficult that when one started.  It must be done.  No use thinking about all that lies ahead.  Just commit to what the cross requires for that day.  Take it up daily.  Take the rest needed.  But then bear under the load and accomplish what the LORD wants done for that day.  Bear under the burden of the day.  There is only one cross to take up.  You cannot take up tomorrow’s cross.  Only today’s.  Denying self is the beginning.  Then, take up that cross and go a bit further.  You will eventually get there, one day at a time.