Avoiding the Cross Road 3:18b, 19b enemies of the cross of Christ... who set their minds on earthly things.

The cross is more than a saving historical event in the life of Christ. The cross is a way of living. It is choosing to walk the path of Christ in the confidence that it will lead to His glory. (The cross only makes sense in the light of heaven. If one’s mind is set on earthly things, the cross seems absurd. But if your mind is set on heaven, the cross makes perfect sense.)

All of those who have their minds set on earthly things are enemies of the cross. They have rejected the cross as a way of life. They have rejected the notion of denying themselves now in order to obtain future glory. They will have their heaven now and have nothing for later (“their end is destruction” - v.19a).

It is a matter of interpreting this age properly. For those whose minds are set on earthly things this age is the ultimate - it is where you find all your pleasure and where you live out all your life. But for those whose minds are set upon heaven, this age is not ultimate but preparatory. This age is not so much for living as it is for dying in order to come to life. The next age is the age for real living. This is the age in which Christ calls us to die, in order that we might live in the age to come.

The issue is whether we indulge ourselves now and forget about later, or whether we deny ourselves now in order to enjoy heaven later.

Are you going to have your pleasure now or later? Satan says you can have both, Christ says you can’t:

"He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." (Matt.10:38)

"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way." (Luke 6:20-26)

The blessing of heaven comes to the one who is willing and content to be poor and hungry and who weeps and is hated on this earth. The woe of hell comes to the one who seeks to be rich and well-fed and who laughs and is well spoken of on this earth. The comfort they are receiving now is all the comfort they are going to get.

So, it is either "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die," or "Fast, pray and mourn for tomorrow we live." Life now, death later; or death now, life later. Those are the only two options.

Oh yeah, by the way, the one who chooses “death now, life later” also receives many benefits in this life (e.g. the sustaining presence of the Holy Spirit). In fact, "he will receive a hundred times as much [as what he gives up] now in the present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life." (Mark 10:30) Accompanying the pain and persecution of giving up one’s life is a hundredfold return in this world’s goods, along with eternal life. A pretty good deal, huh?

O Father, I praise You for the path You have laid before me, the path of Christ. I thank You that You have loved me so much as to show me the way to glory. I pray You would help me to believe, help me daily in faith to choose the path of death-to-self that leads to life. Forgive me for my unbelief. Forgive me for thinking that I have to save my life in order to really live. Help me to lose my life so that You might save it. Help me to let go of this world and take hold of Christ with both hands. Thank You that He has taken hold of me.