Carrying the Cross Is Not Easy

 Standing Firm in Shifting Sands: The Gospel in a Transformed Culture — The Attack on Christian Faith — Day 6

“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, NIV)

Good morning, friends! Have you ever committed to something you knew would be hard before you even began? Not because anyone promised it would be easy, but because you were certain it was worth it? That is the ground we stand on this morning. Jesus never told us following Him would be easy. He told us it would be worth it. And after five days examining how our culture attacks the Christian faith, we close this part of our series right where Jesus Himself left us: at the cross.

What Jesus Actually Promised

Throughout this part of our series, we have examined how our culture portrays Christianity as harmful, oppressive, and toxic. We have looked at the charge that faith is a crutch, the accusation that biblical truth is hate speech, and the temptation to soften the message to avoid conflict. All of those challenges carry one common thread: they assume Christianity should be measured by whether it makes us comfortable, accepted, and free from difficulty.

Jesus measured it differently. In Luke 9:23-24, He lays out the terms with stunning clarity: “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.” These words were not spoken to discourage. They were spoken to prepare. A disciple who does not know what they signed up for is a disciple who will be shocked into retreat the first time the cost becomes real. Jesus loved His followers too much to leave them unprepared.

Notice that He says “take up their cross daily.” Not once at conversion. Not only in moments of dramatic persecution. Daily. The Christian life is not a single heroic act followed by ease; it is a daily choosing of Christ over self, of His kingdom over our comfort, of His truth over the world’s approval. That is not a burden dressed up as freedom; it is freedom that looks like a burden to those who have never tasted it.

Paul understood this. Writing from prison, facing possible execution, he told the church at Philippi something extraordinary in Philippians 1:21: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Read that again slowly. Paul is not gritting his teeth through a hard religion. He is expressing the logical conclusion of a life that has found its center in something real. If Jesus is who He claimed to be, if His resurrection actually happened, if our sins are actually forgiven and eternity actually awaits, then dying is not a loss. It is arrival. That is not reckless bravado. It is the natural arithmetic of genuine faith.

The Promise That Holds When the Cross Feels Heavy

Paul goes further in the same letter, telling the Philippians in chapter 1, verse 29: “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.” Suffering for Christ is not a sign that something has gone wrong. It is, in Paul’s words, a grant — something given, something included in the reality of knowing Jesus in a world that does not yet know Him. This reframes everything. When we face hostility for our faith, we are not experiencing a glitch. We are walking the same road our Savior walked.

The risen Christ Himself says to the persecuted church in Revelation 2:10: “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.” The cross is not easy. But it ends in a crown. There is no crown for those who never faced anything worth enduring.

And here is the grace woven through all of it: we are not asked to carry this alone. Isaiah 43:1-2 carries God’s word to His people across the centuries: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” God does not promise His people an absence of water and fire. He promises His presence in the water and fire. That is infinitely better than an easy road.

And so we return to Jesus’s own words in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” The same Jesus who calls us to daily cross-carrying calls us to rest in Him. These are not contradictions. They are two sides of the same reality. The cross He calls us to carry is the yoke He has already fitted for us. The burden He shares with us is the one He already bore for us on Calvary. Jesus Christ has not called us to suffer without Him. He has called us to follow Him, and He is already where we are going.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I confess that I have sometimes wanted a faith that cost me nothing, a Christianity that made the world like me and left me undisturbed. Forgive me for looking for ease where You promised presence. Thank You that Your Son did not stay comfortable when it was my soul at stake. Thank You for the cross He carried so that my sins could be forgiven and my eternity secured.

Today, I choose to take up my cross and follow Jesus, even when the path is harder than I would choose for myself. When the weight of faithfulness feels heavy, remind me that to live is Christ and to die is gain. Teach me to measure everything by eternity, not by comfort. Keep me faithful, even to the point of death, knowing that You will give life as my victor’s crown. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.

As we go through this day, let’s hold onto what this entire part of our series has been building toward: the Christian life is not easy, and Jesus never claimed it would be. We do not follow Christ because it improves our social standing or guarantees a comfortable life. We follow Him because He is risen, because He is Lord, because He has conquered sin and death, and because nothing else in heaven or on earth compares to knowing Him. The cross is real. So is the crown. And Jesus Christ, who carried His cross all the way to our redemption, walks every step of this road beside us.

Praise You, Lord Jesus, for carrying the cross so we could be forgiven and follow You! We praise You, Father, for being present in every fire and every flood. We praise You, Holy Spirit, for sustaining faith when the road is hard. You are worthy of everything we lay down for You.

To God be the glory.

Pray, praise, and give thanks, for God is good and His mercy endures forever.

We love those who walk with us in God’s Word each day! To join the daily devotion list, text ADD to 1-833-779-8793. Together we follow Christ, whatever the road holds.