Come vs Carry

I read a verse recently that smacked me in a good way...
"...whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple". Luke 14:27 niv

I have heard it said many times, and sometimes have said it myself, that all we need to do is "come to the cross".
I still think it is the place we start.
The place where we recognise what this Jesus actually did for us.

But where to from there?
The where to from there is actually simple.
I really don't think Jesus is actually hard to understand. I have heard many say He is confusing and kind of 'out there'. Others like to paint the picture of Jesus being all nice and cuddly all the time.
The only times I have found Jesus hard to understand is when I don't want to do what He says...
When His teaching grates me, irritates me, challenges my understanding of things and how they should work.

Jesus never asked us to come to the cross and then park.
Or come to the cross and wonder what to do next...
He asks us to 'carry our cross'.

I firmly believe for your "christianity" to make some sense and to truly have all the power it can have for you, you need this component.
You need to come first, but then carry - you need to follow!
Carrying our own cross speaks to me of many things...
It speaks of sacrifice and resurrection.
It speaks of laying down to take up something even better.
It speaks of the old going and new coming.
If you only 'come' and not 'carry' you miss out. You get left in a spiritual limbo.

This is challenging I know, but I firmly believe this is how it works...
May Jesus speak to you personally on what this means for you today.

Something to think about...