Many are scared of what becoming a Christian might mean. Sometimes it’s the church that scares them.

We tell them Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). But we’re telling them it’ll be a burden. And Jesus also said, if you want to follow Him, you have to bear or take up your cross (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; Luke 14:27). And the pictures we give of taking up a cross are not pleasant.

In each case the word for “cross” can mean an upright stake in the ground. But it comes from a root word meaning “to establish a thing, or cause it to stand.” So, in that sense taking up your cross means lifting up and taking with you whatever it is your life is established on.

Granted, taking up the Gospel can bring persecution. But that’s not all it means. Jesus came to give abundant, invigorating, life. To free people from physical, mental, emotional, spiritual captivity to the destructive influences of the enemy who comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

Let that Gospel be what you establish your life on.