Perhaps it may seem that I have “played this tune” long enough, but I do have a few more things to say, before I close this series. Luke 9:23 is my text verse: “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.” There are a few things that I have not said about this verse. The first thing I want to say here is that Jesus is speaking about a cross that all true followers must bear. He did not say that one needs to get out of his air conditioned house and go down to the coffee shop to converse with the boys, even though that is not wrong within its place. Jesus spoke of bearing a death instrument, and I have mentioned this in some ways, but not in the sense that all who take up their crosses must realize that such as action means that one must die to self. One must give up his own ambitions, at least sometimes and in some areas, in order to bear a cross. In the physical sense, cross bearing was a hard task, for the crosses were heavy, yet Jesus bore His cross, physically, even if another did help with part of the job. The point I want to make is that it will not be easy to bear one’s cross, for cross bearing means a dying to self, and most people are not about to do that. The eleven, excluding Judas, were willing to bear their ‘crosses”, at least some of the time, but even they did not always think that they were “getting a good deal”. My point is that it will not always be easy to follow Jesus, so why should so many churches seem to desire to make church attendance and worship fun? Worship and fun are two different things. I am not saying that some church activities cannot be fun, for they can, but I am saying that there is a time when “fun and frolic” must be laid aside for a time of worship and service that requires a burden, and we seem to have a deemphasis on those things.
Whom do we meet at the prayer rooms of our churches that is so burdened that he, or she, cannot stop weeping? When do we determine that it is time for worship, instead of entertainment? I have a strong feeling that most people in our day know very little about worship, even though they attend the “worship service” of a church. Notice that Jesus spoke of taking up one’s cross daily and following Him. Although Jesus did say a few things that Scripture records that might be taken as humorous, basically He was characterized as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, according to Isaiah 53:3. Jesus also spoke of taking up the cross daily and following Him, indicating that His “cross” was a day to day experience, even before He laid down and died on the physical cross. Certainly there can be a time of enjoyment at church services in things that may not directly apply to worship, yet none of these can take the place of worship, nor should they take more time than worship. Most people do not seem to know much about actual worship, although they may know about enjoyment. The Old Testament mentions the expression many times: “And they bowed their heads and worshiped” (see Exodus 4:31: II Chronicles 29:30). Of course there are other ways and forms of worship, but all worship has to mean the attributing of worth to God, and that is not always the case in “worship services”. One other thing must be mentioned again in this series, and it revolves around the words: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself”. Discipleship revolves around self-denial, but it also revolves around following Jesus, which indicates that Jesus, while on earth, participated in public worship services, even though He was both God and man. So, here is our verse again: “And He said unto them all, if any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
‘ By J. Briggs King, Rainsville, AL (678) 451-0921