And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:38
If you ever check your spam folder, no doubt you’ll find dozens of messages promising quick fixes for whatever ails you.
Lose weight
Quit smoking
Get rich
Learn a foreign language or skills for a new career
All quick, painless, easy … effortless.
We have GPS to guide us step by step. We have Roombas to sweep for us. Washing machines, dishwashers, microwaves all guaranteed to reduce the effort we have to put out to accomplish a task.
Could it be that expectation of a quick fix is causing us to become disillusioned with following Jesus?
It is work, hard work., work that the Holy Spirit does in us and work that we take on in response.
It is painful as we have our true selves exposed and dealt with, as we have deeply ingrained attitudes and ideas ripped out.
It is slow as we spend a lifetime trying and failing and trying again, learning and relearning.
Jesus didn’t mislead anybody on this. He clearly stated that following Him was about taking up a cross. It’s about denying ourselves. It’s about being transformed. It’s the narrow way. It’s hard.
No, He never said it would be easy. He said it would be worth it.