“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:34-36
I heard a man talking on the radio about how a well-meaning friend, referring to the cancer that the first man’s wife was battling, as “their cross to bear”. The radio man said that because they had not chosen the cancer that it was not their cross. When Jesus says, “take up your cross” He is referring to how we respond to our trials.
His wife could have been depressed and complained but when his wife rejoiced and praised God in the midst of her trial she chose to take up her cross.
