Taking Up Your Cross
Month 9: The Road to Jerusalem · Heart Matters
Today's Scripture
Read together: Matthew 16:24-25
24 Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Memory Verse
“Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.””— Matthew 16:16 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: Jeremiah 48-50
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (God judges proud nations — Moab, Ammon, Babylon — He alone stays exalted.)The Heart of It
Right after Peter's great confession, Jesus says something startling about what following Him really means. "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." To the disciples, a cross wasn't jewelry. It was the worst thing they could picture, a tool of death. Jesus is being completely honest. The road behind Him is not a stroll where He makes all your wishes come true. It's a road where you lay down your own way and let Him lead. "Deny himself" doesn't mean hating yourself. It means taking yourself off the throne so Jesus can have it.
Then Jesus turns the whole world upside down. "Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." The way to a full, alive, joyful life is not grabbing everything for yourself. It's the opposite. It's giving your life to Jesus and trusting Him with it. A clenched fist holds onto a little. An open hand can receive everything God wants to give. This is the heart matter every disciple faces. Jesus doesn't just want our agreement that He is the Christ. He wants us. He wants the throne of our hearts, our plans, our days. And here is the wonderful secret. Everyone who hands their life to Him discovers they've finally found it.
Around the Table
Following Jesus means saying, "Jesus, You go first, and I'll follow." When we let Jesus lead, He gives us a happy, full life.
Let's do it: Play follow-the-leader! Whoever leads, the others copy. Then say, "Jesus is our leader!"
"Denying yourself" means letting Jesus be in charge instead of always wanting your own way. What's one way that's hard?
Let's talk: Why would giving your life to Jesus actually make you happier, not sadder?
A cross meant death. Jesus wasn't promising an easy life, but a true one. Following Him costs the throne of self.
Let's go deeper: What part of your life feels hardest to take off the throne and hand to Jesus right now?
💬 Conversation Starter
When have you held onto something so tight that you couldn't enjoy it, or couldn't grab something better? How is an open hand a picture of following Jesus?
🛡️ Defending the Faith
Skeptics say Christianity is just a comfort crutch for people who want an easy life. But Jesus literally called His followers to take up a cross, to die to self and risk everything. That's no crutch. A faith that begins by asking you to lose your life is not wishful thinking. It's a costly call to truth ().
For Dad · Go Deeper
"Take up your cross" has been worn smooth by overuse. We toss it at headaches and annoying coworkers. But Jesus meant something far weightier and far better: a daily, willing surrender of self-rule to His rule. Here is where our theology matters. This is not a one-time decision that runs on autopilot forever. Jesus says "let him deny himself" in the present, ongoing tense. It is a continual choosing. Grace makes it possible, but it does not make it automatic. You still pick up the cross each morning, by His Spirit's help. For you as a father, the searching question is whether your children see this in you. Do they watch you lay down your preferences, your phone, your right to be right, for the sake of Christ and for them? You cannot disciple your kids into a surrender you are unwilling to model. Lead from a cross you actually carry.
Draws on: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship.
Let's Pray Together
"Lord Jesus, You are the Christ. We want to follow You, not just admire You. Help us take ourselves off the throne and let You lead. Teach us that giving our lives to You is how we truly find them. In Jesus' name, amen."
The open hand that lets Jesus lead is the hand that finds real life.