Light Enough To Run

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ’If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.’” (Matthew 16:24, NLT)

I am a recovering legalistic Christian. Some of what I have unlearned about following Jesus was modeled for me and some of it was just my own “type A” personality that loves consistency and craves belonging.

Growing up as a strong and outgoing girl with leadership skills has put me in hot water in conservative church communities more than a few times. I have found myself asking God why He made me the way that He did. Oscillating between frustration and shame, I have looked at my natural abilities as my “cross to bear.” These were the things that made life more challenging for me. They weren’t giftings to be stewarded, they were problems that I carried with me from place to place that put me on the proverbial chopping block for someone to nail me with their criticisms.

I’m sure that there is a devotional to write about how to prayerfully bear the burdens of our personalities or trials, but that is not what I believe Jesus is asking us to do in Matthew 16. Jesus isn’t asking us to identify the things that make life hard and buckle under the weight of them. He is asking us to identify the sin that tempts us and run in the freedom He won for us on His cross.

Jesus is inviting us to take hold of and apply His work on the Cross. Jesus bore the burden of our sin so that we could enjoy the grace of His righteousness!

No crime put our Lord on the cross. No sin found Him guilty. He carried the cross that bore our sins and laid His own body upon it. Jesus stood between me and the blameless sacrifice that I could never offer and laid down His life.

This call to pick up our cross and follow Jesus is not a lifelong commission to bear the frustrations of life with religious stoicism. This call is a call to hate that which condemned our Savior to die and forever deny its power over us. His death ushered in the total forgiveness of our sins and removed its authority once and for all.

The cross we carry is not heavy laden with condemnation. Jesus already bore that cross and the work is finished. We don’t carry a cross of judgment, we carry the cross that bears His righteousness.

The work of Jesus Christ fulfilled the letter of the Law. His righteousness was the only sacrifice that would satisfy justice. But Jesus’ death did not simply satisfy ancient law and a holy God, it lovingly transferred onto us a righteousness that we did not earn. A righteousness that comes with adoption and access to the Father.

The enemy would like for us to believe that there is still work left for us to do. That the lingering guilt we feel or the shame that shrouds us is simply evidence of our cross bearing. Satan can’t defeat Jesus, but he can try to cheapen His sacrifice. What the enemy wants more than anything is to discourage us with burdens wrapped up in religious talk, burdens that we were never meant to carry. The enemy wants us to pick back up what the Lord already took on for us and be crushed under the weight of our anxious toil and earnest striving.

Evidence of carrying your cross for Christ is not guilt, it’s freedom.

We have been freed from the detestable sins that so desperately want to wrap themselves around us and immobilize us. Because of Christ’s finished work, we don’t have to crucify ourselves on the cross of accusation. There is no past, present or future sin too great that Jesus did not render it powerless over us.

The cross we bear for Christ is light enough to run the race He has set before us. Sin is so weak that all it can do is beg for our attention. But by the blood of Jesus, we simply turn our heads away from that which accused us. To deny ourselves is to agree with the powerful work of Christ on Calvary.

Jesus bore the weight of our sins so we could carry the credit of His righteousness.

Prayer: Thank you, Jesus. Because of your sacrifice, sin has no power over me. By your blood and in Your name, I have everything I need to live for You. Will you help me to recognize when I am carrying the weight of striving to add to my salvation? Will you help me to see when I am picking back up labels and accusations that you have already paid for? I want to live free because You have set me free! Give me clarity and direction to take the next steps of obedience to You. Teach me to hate sin and to deny its power over me. May my life be poured out in gratitude for all that Your death has won for me!