Dying Daily

This article was originally published here, on August 11, 2009.

"Then he said to them all: "If any one would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me'" (Luke 9:38, NIV).

In a paradoxical way, the gospel call to life is a call to death. Those who follow Jesus in faithful obedience must live a life of self-denial and daily death. The call to take up the cross is a call to take up one's death. As Paul states, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry" (Col. 3:5). Thus, taking up our cross is the process of killing off our "earthly nature."

Paul reminds us, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). In this verse, Paul is demonstrating the union between Jesus and his followers. They are capable of putting to death the desires of the flesh, because Jesus was put to death on their behalves.

The call to take up the cross is not only possible, it is expected. Taking up the cross is a daily task. Think of our earthly desires like a fire that has been burned down to embers. The coals might only be giving off smoke or heat, they may be orange, red or gray, but they are only embers and not a flame. We might douse those embers with water or attempt to stomp them out, and assume our job is done. However, a shift in the wind or a new source of fuel turn the embers into a raging fire. We must battle our earthly desires everyday, because we don't know when they are going to flare up.

The call to daily death is a reminder that we live in constant struggle with the world, the flesh, and the devil. Today's victory might be used to bring tomorrow's defeat. If we are not constantly on the watch, we are sure to caught off guard by our attackers. Daily our fleshly desires wage war against the Spirit, and the Spirit wages war against our desires. Daily we must go to the cross and remind ourselves of who we are. We are no longer the slaves of sin, but the children of God. Christ's cross makes our cross bearable. Until that last day, when Jesus comes in all his glory and raises us incorruptible, we must bear our cross daily.