“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

How’s that for an invitation? Jesus seems to be saying there will be pain and suffering in the lives of His followers. Things are not going to be easy. That being the case, why would anyone want to follow Him?

If that was all Jesus said, I don’t think He would have too many followers today. But He said and did much more than that. The one who told us to take up our crosses also the one who said I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in Me will never die  (John 11:25-26). It is this promise of eternal life that makes people follow Jesus. He has something to offer us, something that we need. Our faith grabs hold of this gift. However, Jesus clearly tells us that our faith in Him will not eliminate all the ills of this world. In fact, we will encounter new problems because of our faith!

A man once found a cocoon of an emperor moth, and took it home to watch it emerge. One day a small opening appeared, and for several hours the moth struggled, but couldn’t seem to force its body past a certain point. Deciding something was wrong, the man took a pair of scissors and carefully snipped away the cocoon. The moth then came out easily, its body large and swollen, the wings small and shriveled. He expected that in a few hours the wings would spread out with their natural beauty, but they did not. Instead of developing into a creature to fly free, the moth would now spend its life dragging around a swollen body and shriveled wings. That cocoon and the struggle necessary to pass through the tiny opening are God’s way of forcing fluid from the body into the wings. Without the struggle of going through that small opening, the moth would never properly develop. The snip of the scissors, instead of being an act of mercy, was actually cruel.

In the same way, we often need struggle and obstacles in our lives to help us grow. God uses all things to accomplish good in the lives of His children. When you face hardships, look to Christ as your example. He went through all kinds of abuse and suffering during His ministry, culminating in an unjust execution. That death was not a victory. It was the punishment for sin: your sin and mine. And had Christ remained in the grave, there would have been no victory over death for you. But the death of Jesus Christ at the hands of sinful mankind opened the way for the victory of the Resurrection on that first Easter. It was because of His impending resurrection that Jesus could go to Hell, that place of eternal torment for those who do not believe, and proclaim His victory. It was because of the Resurrection that Jesus could proclaim to the Devil that Hell posed no threat to those who believed in Him. It was because of His Resurrection that Jesus could say “whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.”

You each have your cross to bear. It is the cost of discipleship, the cost of following Jesus. But remember what Jesus has already given you: forgiveness for all sin and the promise of eternal life.