WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

I’ve heard it many times and thought it must mean that we accept life’s difficulties and carry them on our shoulders. But over the past few years I have understood that if we give all our burdens to Christ, he has already carried them for us on the cross.

When He carried that cross on his already flogged raw back, he was spiritually and physically carrying our burdens on His shoulders. So, what did Jesus mean by saying “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24 - Jesus is talking to his disciples. Mark 8:34 – He is talking to the crowd)

Is Jesus telling us that along with joy and peace, we will also face opposition, from Satan and from family/friends who do not know or understand Jesus and our new ‘identity’ in him? I wonder if this is the cross Jesus was talking about.

It can feel like a burden to be in opposition to those you live with daily and love dearly. It is not pleasant to know that the people you love most in this world think you are at least misled, if not crazy, for believing in someone who, to them, died 2,000 years ago and is never coming back. To our loved ones who don’t believe, we are giving up all the pleasures of this life for a life of restraint for nothing. Yet if they looked around, they would see how this life they fight for and treasure is burdening them much more than they care to admit, and is not good for them.

However, for those who choose Jesus, the burden he puts on us is light, because he has already taken the weight of all our faults and sins on his shoulders, so that all we need to do is trust in him no matter what the opposition.

Matthew 11: 28-29 says,

‘Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yolk upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yolk is easy and my burden is light.’

This is how I understand my God. Read for yourself, see what you think.