Back in the late 1900s when I was a youth pastor for the first time—because I think I shared with you I am now enjoying my second coming as a youth pastor—I created a special award for extraordinary volunteers who worked with our students. I called them the Luke 9:23 Awards. 

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

You’ve heard the saying, “Find someone doing something right and celebrate it.” Well, this was that. When I noticed someone going extra miles to love on our kids I celebrated it. In doing so I proved another saying I had heard, “You get more of what you celebrate.” 

But what does it mean to take up one’s cross? I used to think it meant do things you didn’t really want to do while gritting your teeth and smiling. After all, it says “deny yourself,” right? In other words, I thought of it through a behavioral lens. Don’t be selfish. And when we hear “don’t” before just about anything, it essentially means, “Don’t miss.” This is one of the many things I love so much about Jesus. He actually tells us what we are aiming at and how to keep our eye on the ball. 

Take up your cross. But what does this mean? He’s not asking for a performance. 

Maybe we should ask this question, “What is the cross?” 

The cross is the sign, symbol, and real place where Jesus unconditionally and unreservedly gave himself to his Father for the sake the world. The cross is the divine reality of self-giving love. In this light, there is only ultimately one way to deny oneself. It is to give oneself away. It follows, then, that to take up our cross is to give oneself unconditionally and unreservedly to Jesus. And to give oneself to Jesus is to deny oneself. It’s why the first line of John Wesley’s celebrated Covenant Prayer says, “I am no longer my own, but thine.” The minute we give ourselves to Jesus is the minute we give up our rights to ourselves. 

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

Then there’s the little word tucked in between “cross” and “follow.” It’s one of our favorite words. The word is daily—as in today! 

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

Here’s my working translation of what responding to this invitation looks like—every single day. 

Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. 

Jesus, I belong to you.

I lift up my heart to you.

I set my mind on you.

I fix my eyes on you.

I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.

Jesus, we belong to you. 

Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. 

PRAY

I think we just prayed it. 

JOURNAL

How does it change your understanding to think of Jesus’s invitation as an invitation to deep and abiding consecration instead of a demand for a more performative commitment? Does this resonate with you? 

SING

Today, we will sing “Take My Life and Let It Be Consecrated” (hymn 586) from our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise.

For the Awakening,

J. D. Walt

P.S. BIG NEWS FROM THE FARM TEAM FOR ADVENT

Remember Anna Grace Legband, from the FarmTeam? She directs the New Room Conference and all our events. She wrote a short series on the Wake-Up Call on Isaiah 55 some months ago. It was fabulous. Well, here’s the BIG NEWS: Anna Grace just gave birth to her first child this week, Margaret Elizabeth! We are all over the moon about it. I wanted you to share our joy.

MORE BIG NEWS: Meanwhile, while AG was growing this new life she was also giving birth to her first book. And it’s our Seedbed Advent daily reader this year! How perfect is that! A young mother, a new baby, and an Advent reader. You can’t make this up. Well, in celebration of all that, I am pleased to offer you a major deal. If you buy one book we will put another one in the package at no additional charge. We call it the Buy One Sow One deal. It means you are now praying for who Jesus wants to sow one of these seed-books into this Advent season. The book is called Brought to the Light: Advent for All Who Need It. So use the code: BUY1SOW1. (It will only work for 1 book so you can’t bulk order and also get this deal). I know, Anna Grace had the baby and you are getting the gift. That’s Seedbed! This will work for the first thousand orders so do it now here. 

John David (J. D.) Walt Jr. is the Sower-in-Chief for Seedbed and the pastor of the Gillett Methodist Church in Gillett, Arkansas. 

Subscribe to get this in your inbox daily, and please share this link with friends.