Take Up Your Cross…Again

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? " Matthew 16:24-26  

I think God is trying to teach me something here. Take up my cross…and follow Him. Whenever something is repeated over and over, God is trying to teach me something specific. Take up my cross. In an earlier verse, Matthew 10:38, Jesus says…And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. So what does it mean to “take up your cross?” To be a devoted disciple of Jesus, we need to deny ourselves—there is room for only one master in our lives. As we take up our cross to follow Jesus we give our whole lives…not just our Sunday morning. Losing our life for Jesus is total dedication—putting Him first in our life…not family, friends or our job. Read Luke 14:25-35.

Life following Jesus is summed up in a book that was written even before He was born as a man. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 says… Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone's duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.  Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NLT. Best advice we can hear—be obedient to God and His word. There is nothing that is of greater value that giving our life to Jesus.  

RSVP: Jesus is calling us today to take up our cross and follow Him. How will you respond to Him? 

Prayer ~ Jesus, I choose to take up my cross and follow You. Show me how I can serve You by serving others. 

Friday’s Feast at the King’s Table

Time to enjoy the last of the season’s harvest. Warm up your body with something hot and spicy. Good salsa time. Some family members don’t care for cilantro, so I omitted it from our salsa today. You can add it to yours if you like. 

Tomatillo Salsa

Makes about 1 cup

8 tomatillos, boiled for a few minutes and peeled

2 scallions, halved

1 jalapeño, halved, seeded, more or less to taste (I used a whole pepper, seeded)

1 garlic clove, peeled

1 Tablespoon lime juice

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, optional

1/2 teaspoon salt, if desired 

Place all ingredients into a blender container and fasten the lid tightly. Turn machine on and slowly increase speed. Blend for 15 seconds or just until chopped. If necessary, use tamper to push the ingredients into the blades while processing. Do not over mix unless you like a pureed salsa. 

Serve as a dip with tortilla chips or as an accompaniment with tacos, burritos or enchiladas. This was surprisingly sweet. We enjoyed it!

© 2014 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.