The Coffin or the Cross?

Not all of us are good at picking up on the warning signs around us. If your wife refers to you as “the ex” when she is talking to the milk man – that could be a vital sign you are missing. If the boss keeps talking about how much more efficient the office temp who filled in while you were on sick leave was – that could be a sign you are not picking up on. When co-workers start greeting you with, “Are you still here” – it may be too late.

Every day we need to be reminding ourselves that this world is not our home! You have daily choices to make and warning signs to watch for. In my opinion, you have 2 daily choices… You can live the way the world wants you to and end up in a coffin. OR... you can follow Jesus by taking up his cross daily.

Luke 9:23-25 - Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?

Here are my keys to “taking up his cross daily”:

1. Healthy Christians connect with God daily! Proverbs 8:34 - Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.

2. Healthy Christians maintain balance in all areas of their lives. What areas of life do we need to be balancing?
The spiritual life. (Your relationship with God)
The social life. (Your relationships with other people.)
The career life. (Your work or education.)
The physical life. (Your diet exercise and overall health.{ Yes, Steve I know})
The family life. (Your wife, kids, parents, grandparents…)
The ministry life. (Your service in response to God’s call.) You can become unbalanced by doing too much or too little in all of these areas of life – they are all vital to a fulfilling and Godly life.

3. Healthy Christians talk about spiritual issues in a positive light with other believers and they watch for Spirit lead opportunities to engage non-believers in spiritual conversations.

Are you having any faith based conversations?

Luke 6:43-45
"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

If you don’t want to talk about God, you’re not taking up his cross you may be headed toward flat-lining.

If you only want to talk negatively about faith issues, I don’t mean you should never speak up if you see something wrong, I mean if all you want to do is complain – that’s not taking up the cross, it is revealing something about your heart.

If you have fallen into being single issue minded – that is not taking up his cross. If you have an issue over some theological, doctrine or prejudice ideal, and that is all you want to talk about – that is a bad sign.

Don’t get cross with me, God said it first.

So, which will it be…the Coffin or the Cross?