Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me – Luke 9:23.

They came to see the passion play depicting the cross of Calvary, and what a moving drama it was! How enthralling! An American businessman hurried backstage to meet the lead actor who had played the role of Christ. His camera shot rapidly and blinded the actor. Looking for some more memorable scenes to shoot, he found the cross the man carried up the hill to Calvary in the play. With unrehearsed abruptness, he handed his camera to his wife and told her to snap his picture carrying the cross up on his shoulder. “Won’t that be a novel and exciting picture to send to our friends in America?”

            Seeing the severe frown on the face of the actor, our American friend asked Mr. Lang, “You don’t mind, do you?” But before Mr. Lang could respond, he had hurried to the cross and stooped down to lift it to his shoulder. But he was in for the rudest surprise of his life. The cross, made of heavy iron oak beams, did not budge and inch from the floor.

            Puffing with amazement, our American friend turned to Mr. Lang and said, “Why, I thought it to be light. Why do you carry a cross that is so terribly heavy?” Calmly straightening himself with compelling dignity, Mr. Lang responded with a gentle rebuke in his voice, “Sir, if I did not feel the weight of His cross, I could not play His part.”

            The story rings so true when I consider how lightly we take our salvation. We, like our American tourist friend, think that the cross of Calvary is a hollow edifice that serves as a mere photo opportunity for our friends and family to see how spiffy we look as Christians. Many of us do not have the least idea of how heavy the cross was to the One who bore it up the hill of Calvary. We forget the weight of our sins that was put on him on the cross. Yes, it was heavy to carry, and it was heavy when he hung on it; but we too have our crosses to carry as His disciples. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk. 9:23). It’s not light, folks. It comes with a cost that is heavy to bear. But, the good thing is, He is ready to carry it with us, if only we would let Him.

            So, you may be suffering under the weight of your cross, whatever it may be – your marriage, children, job, business, friends, family – and you may be ready to say with Elijah, “I have had enough, Lord” (1Kings 19:4). Don’t give up. Don’t throw in the towel. Jesus knows where you stand and the weight of the cross you bear. He will strengthen you, as He did with Elijah, that you can run the race of your Christian life to the Mountain of God (5-9).