Scriptural Readings: Genesis 3:19; Ecclesiastes 2:22-23; II Peter 2:22; Mark 8:34; Mark 10:21; Luke 14:27; II Thessalonians 2:13-15.
Genesis 3:19
King James Version
V.19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat4 bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return.
New Living Translation
V.19 By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust, you will return.”
Ecclesiastes 2:22-23
King James Version
V.22 For what hath man of all his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath labored under the sun?
V.23 For all his days [are] sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest1 in the night. This is also vanity.
New Living Translation
V.22 So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety?
V.23 Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night, their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.
Have we become comfortable with our struggles in our lives? Have we developed callouses for them? Otherwise, we are still having a list of complaints. Another question that we might think of is how to handle it without easily giving up. True enough, we will have success and failure. And they will come from various levels of challenges, and we have to work on them fast.
II Peter 2:22
King James Version
V.22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog [is] turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her, wallowing in the mire.
New Living Translation
V.22 They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.”[g] And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”
Of the many things that we have to do, the first is to question ourselves more often than we think. Why? One would ask. It is of extreme importance that we should always be on guard regarding our emotions. Our emotions are like a Global positioning system. Once we take a wrong turn, we are going to be lost totally. Reactions are an embedded part of us. Our minds and hearts continue to work together, and if they do not conform to each other, confusion will intervene. We will fall back to where we were once before.
Mark 8:34
King James Version
V.34 And when he had called the people [unto him] with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
New Living Translation
V.34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.
Mark 10:21
King James Version
V.21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
New Living Translation
V.21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Luke 14:27
King James Version
V.27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
New Living Translation
V.27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
For example, as Christians, are we commanded to choose between our possession and the cross? Is it necessary to decide between our properties and the cross? What happened to our volition?
Deciding, just like struggles, is a part of our everyday lives. Our Father in heaven will not take away this capacity to choose. Muchmore, He is always giving us the right decisions and directions, making it unmistakable for us.
The cross will force us to focus on only one thing while controlling our possessions divides our attention. It points much of our awareness to many things causing distractions leading to destructions. Thus, causing more harm than wellness. The cross has only one purpose, and that is putting ourselves into what our heavenly Father wants us to accomplish, His will. Our Lord and Savior Jesus carried the cross, died on it for our salvation. It is God’s will, and the best part is the cross opened a lot of what has God promised us. For some, looking at the cross depicts difficulties. It does not. For most of us, we use our finite abilities to see and interpret the cross as things that make it difficult for us to live. What is meaningful is the spiritual essence of the cross.
We continually end up in the wrong places, constantly looking for a way out, leaving us with either unavoidable from light worries to unspeakable sorrow. Altogether, we continuously run out of the right cause and answers, arriving from the miseries that God never wanted us to have. The only way to have grace and mercy is to look at the cross. We can only approach the throne of grace if we acknowledge the message of the cross, of what Jesus did in that place, making Him our intercessor to the Father.
It is now the cross that makes the difference. We might end up again in the wrong places, but this time, God, through Jesus Christ (the way), will provide us with the road out, supplying us with the right reasons and with the conclusive answers to our questions in life. The cross is the place where our Father sees us and brings us to His throne of grace, living a righteous life only available through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
II Thessalonians 2:13-15
King James Version
V.13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
V.14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
V.15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
New Living Translation
V.13 As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first[d] to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth.
V.14 He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
V.15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.
It is now clear that the cross is the only place that we have to go. The only acceptable place where God can meet us, and once we accept, will guarantee us of His love. We have now resolved the argument of why the cross. Alleluia!