Luke 9:23-26
Taking Up His Cross
23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Luke 17:33
Taking Up His Cross
33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.
Matthew 10:39
Taking Up His Cross
39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
Mark 8:35
Taking up His Cross
35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.
John 12:25
Taking Up His Cross
25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Luke 14:25-27
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Luke 10:38-42
Priorities in Life
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
In all four gospels, there is mention of keeping this life, loving this life, and keeping their current life in this world...Jesus contrasts this with how we live our current life with the Spiritual Life that He is always teaching us -which includes Him and His Father...Jesus teaches much about the eternities and about the Spiritual life we will have after our deaths...He teaches about the soul...By living always for this world and those things in this world, we may miss Him...If we do not have a place for Him in our lives our lives our lives maybe more comfortable...But comfort (in some of His teachings) is not the way to lead one's life...We miss the most important things about the Spiritual life, if we are always seeking just comfort...There is this great danger, if we are so focused on the happiness of this world, we will not think much at all about the next world, the Spiritual World in which He lives in right now with His Father...And following, learning, and talking about a Spiritual life (in this world) seems to make other people, or at least some people uncomfortable...This is especially true, when we bring us the word -Jesus...
When I think about a cross, I immediately think of Jesus...He died on a cross...And His death was a slow timed and tortuous death...From cross to His death was excruciating, but from death to resurrection is renewal...That is symbolic and His Cross gives us much to think about...
Jesus wants us to follow Him when we are happy and life is easy, but also He wants us to follow Him when life is tough, we are troubled, and things aren't going well...And it is harder to follow Him, if following Him makes us lose family and our close friends...It is harder to follow Him, when someone leaves or ignores us when we are talking about Him...If everyone at work knows we are a close follower of His, that too, is not easy...Is it and was it hard for the early Christians to be persecuted and die for Him and would we do that today for Him?...Jesus knew that His early followers were going to have it very rough and many would be killed and persecuted for the only a reason of having faith in Him...
Jesus wants us to follow Him all the time...And when we dedicate our complete life to Him, their is a cost of being one of His disciples...He understands this and wants us to understand the slow grinding that goes on in one's life, when one is completely willing to talk to others (including family, friends, and others) about how they feel about Him and following Him and trying to teach others about Him...It is not an easy thing to do...He wants us to look at our priorities in life -and examine where He is at in our lives...He wants us to make sure we are listening to Him, reading about Him, and following His teachings and His words...He makes that clear...And He never ever said it would be easy...