Today I’d like to remind you that Jesus calls us to take up our cross and follow Him in order to have eternal life. As part of that, we need to learn what it really means to take up our cross. On the cross, Jesus experienced what humans are afraid of. Most of all, death, but He also died naked. Everything was exposed when Jesus was killed. The friends he trusted betrayed him. When he died, he was tortured. His mother wept uncontrollably knowing she would outlive her young 30-something-year-old son. As a mother, she had to release her son to the world. In life, these are all the things we fear most as parents and people. And God says He does not stop at the crucifixion, there must be a resurrection.

The whole point of the cross is a resurrection, but you have to experience the cross. You need both of them together. The same is true in life. When you want to win in life, you have to face your fears, and you need to see them as signs showing you how to become a better person. It can be scary and stressful to step into the goal you need to reach, the artwork you need to create, the book you need to write, or seeing the doctor. 

Friend, like Jesus, we may experience fear, but as we take up our cross we move into life, joy, and accomplishment. Whether it’s inheriting your promised land or facing a giant like Goliath, God is ready to partner with us. You are never too young or too old. When God says let’s do it, you say let’s do it!