Scripture: Matthew 16:24-25
Then Jesus said to his disciples, viagra sale “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, sale but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

Thought for the Day: This passage is one of the most misunderstood metaphors in Scripture (not that it’s easy to pick only one). It is most often mistakenly understood as some sort of message about the afterlife: if we willingly give our lives—die for our beliefs, then we are rewarded in heaven. This point of view is as wrong as the fundamental Islamic idea that dying for a cause rewards you in heaven. It’s this sort of wrong-headed thinking that creates suicide bombers, Crusaders and Inquisitors. This is not what either Matthew or Mohammed meant when they wrote passages like this.

Rather, the call to take up the cross is a call to take up the cause of Jesus (and the others before and after him who have fought for a more socially just planet). It requires one to leave everything they’ve ever known behind. Are you a carpenter, a banker, a cook, congressperson or teacher? No matter what your life is now, when you choose to follow Jesus and spread the Gospel message of love and unity, you quite willingly give up everything you thought you knew about human life. In fact, you will be so infused by the Spirit that you won’t be able to resist. Your old life quite naturally falls away as you become a new being. It’s awesome.

Following Jesus means the end of a life smothered and limited by the physical world, and the beginning of a life led by the Spirit; a life led in intimate connection with God, which leads to an understanding of the universe and everything in it as unique manifestations of the One True Source. Taking up our cross is not a burden—it’s an awakening.

Prayer: I am ready, Glorious God, to let go and turn my life over to you. May I become a disciple of your Word, for your word, and gently change the world through humble example, unconditional acceptance of everyone, and gentle proclamation. Amen.