NAILS

"If anyone  would come after me, He must deny himself  and take up  his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23

Why are these familiar words of Jesus so hard to put into practice? We know the cross was an instrument of death that gave Jesus no comfort. We know too that Jesus took up His cross of His own free will. No one forced Him to do it.

It was not a circumstance beyond His control, but a decision he made, like our early morning decisions to "take up our cross daily”. " We tell the Lord in the beginning of the day that we want to do His will regardless of the cost. Yet we often find by nightfall that our cross, so earnestly accepted in the morning hours,

has been dropped somewhere along the way.

Why is our cross so difficult to hold on to while Christ persevered to the end?

What did the cross of Christ have that ours lack? Nails.

When Jesus let the soldiers drive the nails into His hands and feet, the cross took on new meaning" It was no longer simply a burden or a mere symbol of death.

It was death as reality. The nails were not very large, but they made the cross very real. A cross, after all, is not for simply carrying around. It is something you get nailed to.

Those few nails Jesus accepted were small , but painful . Have you noticed the three or four small "nails" that are offered you each day? They are momentary situations in which you have a choice to make: not exploding in anger at the driver

who cut sharply in front of you on your way to work: helping someone when you're rushed for time and don't feel like helping; being honest even if it cost you time, money, or position; not insisting on having things done your way, though you're convinced you are right.

The nails are to the cross what your obedience is to Christ's lordship. Obeying means always saying yes to these nails--so small, yet so essential.

When you take up your cross today, don't forget the nails