God hasn’t called us to an easy life. He’s called us to a victorious life. An overcoming life. A conquering life. None of these words speak ease and comfort to my soul. They carry the connotation of a fight. Of having to contend for something.
God didn’t call us to sit back and be comfortable. The Bible I read says that if we’re going to follow Jesus, it will cost us something. We will need to give something up, take something up, and follow Him.
The true mark of Christianity is not a crown. It’s a cross.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
Matthew 16:24-25
Following Him includes death. For some, that means physical death. There are Christians all over this world that may be required TODAY to denounce Jesus or face physical death. That’s a reality for them.
But whether we are facing physical death today or not, we all have this decision to make, “My life for the gospel.” We are all called to die a thousand deaths a day to the flesh. Death to self’s desires. To self’s ambitions. To self’s will. And that’s not comfortable.
“Take up your cross and follow Me.”
One day we will receive a crown.
And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.
2 Timothy 4:8
There will be a day when this life is over that we will stand face-to-face with the One we love and give an account for everything we did in this life. Our works will go through the fire to be tested and the fire will prove if they were wood, hay and stubble or gold, silver and precious stones.
Only what is done from the place of cross-carrying will survive the fire, and I believe with all my heart that that is what our crown will be made up of. It will be the evidence that we even lived. I want there to be evidence that my life on earth counted, don’t you?
And then we’ll take that crown, the evidence of our lives, and lay it at His feet in worship.
But until then, our lives should be marked by the cross that we carry not the crown we are waiting for.
The true mark of Christianity is not a crown. It’s a cross. Is your life marked?
