“Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” Luke 9:23-24
“Take up their cross daily” is accepting the burdens of being an imitator of Christ; while “follow me” is the command for Christians to follow Jesus through suffering and death and into resurrection. Here we see the real difference between sonship and discipleship. We receive the position and privilege of sonship as a gift; whereas, we receive the reward of sharing in Christ’s glory in His coming Kingdom by the suffering we endure for Him with the life we received as a gift.
Jesus here is underlining the foolishness of chasing after a fading world while being robbed of eternal life. No wealth but Christ’s blood can be exchanged for one’s soul. It makes no sense to attempt to save our lives on earth only to lose everything when our lives quickly and inevitably pass away. The wise course is to invest our earthly resources – our time, talents, and wealth – in what is eternal. Even if we lose our lives for Jesus’ sake, that investment will produce returns for all eternity.
God’s blessings on your day… He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!