In Matthew 16:24, Jesus tells His disciples that to come after Him they must take up their cross and follow Him. This has resulted in people wearing cross necklaces, earrings, etc. There was even a person who took a giant cardboard cross and put it on wheels. The person then went to carry a cross around with them everywhere they went. While that would be great for gaining attention, doing such an action misses the point.

In Galatians 2:20, Paul discusses being crucified with Christ. When one was to take their cross, it meant that they were going to follow Christ. Thus, one’s old self was to die. One must be buried to become a Christian (Rom. 6:4). One is buried by entering the waters of baptism. After that occurs, the person is then born as a new creature.

For one to be buried, it involves death. People do not hold a funeral service for a living being. An alive person is normally not buried in the ground six feet under. During times of the black plague, many people were actually buried alive. It was a horrifying event. For such a reason, bells were put on top of graves so that if a person was buried alive they could ring the bell and be dug back up. That is where the phrase saved by the bell came from.

The person’s old body must die when they are baptized. If one keeps an old part of them alive and won’t let go of it, they are not truly baptized. Peter commanded the Jews to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38). A person must be willing to repent of their sins. One’s old sins must die when they enter the saving waters of baptism.

It is no longer the old person who lives. Christ now lives in everyone who has received him in baptism. Christians are able to put on Christ (Gal. 3:27). It is amazing how great the blessing is that Christians are able to receive. Christians did nothing to deserve Christ dying for their sins. It was only because of God’s great love for mankind that He would send His own son down to die for all of humanity. Christians should return that love by trying to follow all of God’s commandments.

One should not try to give away such the great gift of salvation by returning to sin. After Christmas, traffic becomes horrible as many people are scrambling to return or trade in gifts that they received. It is always horrible when someone tries to get a refund on a gift just because they did not truly appreciate it; however, many do that by returning to sin. People then deem sin to be more appealing than the gift of salvation. One then is not living a life after Christ and no longer carrying their cross for Him.

Christians must always live the life of faithful obedience to God. God has gone above and beyond in giving blessings and gifts to mankind. Mankind must be willing to show love and devotion to Him. If one does not live a faithful life to God then they practice iniquity and will not inherit eternal life (Matt. 7:23). One must remember this as they go throughout the new year. A year has just rolled around and now everyone gets an opportunity to make resolutions to improve themselves. What better way to improve oneself than to dedicate their life to following Christ?

By: Kevin Maul