I think it was Thomas Manton, an English Puritan preacher who lived in the 1600s, who said in one of his sermons that the Christian life is “a following after God”…so the Christian life is a journey through this world where you are following after God. We’ve been learning about that with the imagery of walking on a pathway and having a guide…a shepherd to lead us through. Also, it’s important to remember that this pathway we are walking on is the pathway that Jesus opened into heaven for us. It was by Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension that He opened a way for us into heaven. So, He went to heaven ahead of us…and we follow after Him there. Take time to envision Jesus opening up that way to heaven as He was ascending into the clouds…and then see us following in His footsteps on that pathway. There are so many hymns that use this imagery and I will be posting some of those on here over time. There’s one hymn by Lucie E. Campbell called “Footprints of Jesus.” It’s a beautiful hymn and the chorus says, “Footprints of Jesus, leading the way, Footprints of Jesus, by night and by day, Sure if I follow, life will be sweet! Saved by the prints of His wounded feet.” And the last verse says, “That’s how I know Him, that’s why I say, Jesus is leading me, all the way, I shall reach Heaven’s portals so sweet, Led by the prints of His wounded feet.” So it’s such important imagery to work with of Jesus leading and us following Him. See yourself walking on that pathway following the footsteps of Jesus that have marked out the pathway for you. You could also spend time alternating between thinking about what it would feel like to be standing there not knowing the way…not knowing what step to take next…and then feeling the joy that you feel and the comfort when you look ahead on the pathway and see Jesus’ footprints marking the way for you.

So the Christian life is “a following after God.” A life spent following after God…a process of following after God. So…we are to follow after Him. But then…there is something else Jesus tells us to do as we are following Him. Matthew 16:24 says, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’.” So…when Jesus is calling out to us from that pathway to follow Him, first we must deny ourselves, take up our cross…and then start following after Him. We can talk more about what that verse means over time…what it entails to deny yourself…there are many very helpful commentaries and sermons about this. And there are many hymns about this. Right now, I wanted to just talk about how this imagery is very helpful to use in meditation as you are processing your day…and once you form a concept of it in your mind when you are meditating…you can use this imagery as you go through your day to help you process things in the moment…while they are happening, also.

So…as you are seeking God in prayer and asking Him to help you process and sort through your day, He will show you that sometimes there are things in your life that can be changed…and sometimes there are things that cannot be changed and, therefore, must be endured. For those things I use the imagery of carrying my cross. Those things that are painful and cannot be changed, I see symbolically being put into my cross that I am carrying. The energy of that troubling or painful circumstance goes into and becomes part of the weight of my cross. The cross I am carrying is not too heavy…I am not crushed under the weight of it…Jesus helps me carry it. There is a glowing, golden, heavenly light beam energy emanating from it. What has been so helpful to me is that using this imagery can help you feel motion…instead of stagnation. I had said in an earlier voice note that I am struggling with circulation and I am physically limited right now. So if I envision myself putting my energy into carrying that cross, it helps me feel like there is a purpose to what I am experiencing…and it helps me feel a release or expenditure of that frustrated energy that can build up if you are not able to change your circumstances. Sometimes being anxious or thinking through things can make me feel like I’m doing something about the problem…I have to do something about it. But getting anxious or worrying about it is not really very helpful. So instead of worrying for 15 minutes, if I walk around at a calm pace and envision myself carrying my cross…it helps release a lot of stress energy.

What you will learn if you study Matthew 16:24 is that there is a cross for every Christian. And Jesus has fitted, or designed, a cross exactly for you. He considers your frame…He knows how much you can bear…and He will help you to carry it. And it’s important to remember that there is a purpose to your cross. Many of God’s purposes are hidden to us now, but they will be revealed to us in Heaven. There is imagery throughout the Bible about how God refines us by our trials…refines us like gold. The 4^th verse of the hymn “How Firm a Foundation” says, “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, my grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply; the flame shall not hurt thee; I only design thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.” And I can’t remember where I read it…but one of the writers of the older commentaries said that if we knew the purposes God had for us in the cross He has designed for us to carry, we would kiss the cross instead of trying to get away from it.

So spend some time with that imagery….remembering that the Christian life is “a following after God.” Also, remembering that if you want to be Christ’s disciples you must first take up your cross and then follow after Him. So see yourself walking on that pathway to heaven, carrying your cross, following in the footprints of Jesus’ wounded feet.

In my next post I will write about imagery we can use with 1 Corinthians 4:17-18, which says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” While we are carrying our cross through this life, it is comforting to remember that we will only be carrying it temporarily…through our life on earth. Remember how the chorus to “The Old Rugged Cross” says, “I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it some day for a crown.” That’s what this verse is talking about…that after we have carried our cross through this life, there is an eternal glory that awaits us in heaven…and I’ll write about that next time.