THE CROSS TEACHES US HOW TO DENY SELF

Never once does our Lord say, “Stoop down and let me lay a cross on you.”
Jesus is not in the drafting business; his army is all volunteer. Not all
Christians carry crosses. You can be a believer without carrying a cross, but
you cannot be a disciple.

I see many believers rejecting the way of the cross. They have opted for the
good life with its prosperity, its material gain, its popularity and success.
I’m sure that many of them will make it to heaven— they will have saved
their skins—but they will not have learned Christ. Having rejected the
suffering and sorrow of the cross, they will not have the capacity to know and
enjoy him in eternity, as will all the cross-bearing saints who have entered
into the fellowship of the suffering.

You will have to carry your cross until you learn to deny. Deny what? The one
thing that constantly hinders God's work in our lives—self. Jesus said, "If
any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and
follow me" (Matthew 16:24). We are misinterpreting this message if we emphasize
self-denial, that is, the rejection of material or unlawful things. Jesus was
not calling upon us to learn self-discipline before we take up our cross. It is
far more severe than that. Jesus is asking that we deny ourselves. This means to
deny your own ability to carry any cross in your own strength. In other words,
"Don't take up your cross until you are ready to reject any and every thought
on becoming a holy disciple as a result of your own effort."

Millions of professing Christians boast of their self-denial. They don't drink,
smoke, curse or fornicate—they are examples of tremendous self-discipline. But
not in a hundred years would they admit it was accomplished by anything other
than their own willpower. They are practicing self-denial, but they have never
denied self. In some ways, we are all like that. We experience "spurts" of
holiness, accompanied by feelings of purity. Good works usually produce good
feelings, but God will not allow us to think our good works and clean habits
can save us. That is why we need a cross.

I believe Jesus is actually saying to us, "Before you take up your cross, be
ready to face a moment of truth. Be ready to experience a crisis by which you
will learn to deny your self-will, your self-righteousness, your
self-sufficiency, your self-authority. You can rise up and follow me as a true
disciple only when you can freely admit you can do nothing in your own
strength—you cannot overcome sin through your own willpower—your
temptations cannot be overcome by your self-efforts alone—you cannot work
things out by your own intellect.

Your love for Jesus can put you on your knees but your cross will put you on
your face.

-David Wilkerson