January 26

Cross-bearing—our calling

“Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27).
“If any man will come after me, let him . . . take up his cross daily” (Luke 9:23).

The Christian’s proper work is to bear the cross. This is his calling, his trade or profession. It is the business of a watchmaker to make watches; it is the business of every Christian to bear the cross, at home, abroad, in the shop, in the store, in the market place, or in the field. He has many discouragements, many solicitations to lay it aside. It sometimes presses heavily upon him, but the sight of the crown inspires him with fresh vigor; he glows, and bounds along the heavenly road. By the cross, i.e., by his conduct, the Christian is distinguished from the lover of the world. While he bears the cross, the cross will bear him. It will guide him through labyrinths of darkness. As a shield, it will protect him in dangerous conflicts. 


Among the Romans, criminals about to be crucified were compelled to bear their own cross to the place of execution, but the Christian bears his to the place of triumph. If it should prove at any time so heavy as to crush him down to death, as did Stephen’s, like him he beholds the heavens opened, the King in His beauty, and the crown of celestial glory. He comes off more than a conqueror.

Who suffer with our Master here
We shall before His face appear,
And by His side sit down;
To patient faith the prize is sure;
And all that to the end endure
The cross, shall wear the crown.
In hope of that ecstatic pause,
Jesus, we now sustain the cross,
And at Thy footstool fall;
Till Thou our ravish’d spirits fill,
And God is All in All.
—Religious Emblems.

If God plants a cross in your pathway, you cannot escape it and get to Heaven.

The cross of Christ is the sweetest burden that ever I bore; it is such a burden as wings are to a bird, or as sails to a ship, to carry me forward to my desired haven. Those who by faith see the invisible God and the fair city, make no account of present losses and crosses.
—Samuel Rutherford.

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