Jesus tells us in Luke 14:27 - “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” We'd actually like to bypass that admonition and replace it with our own - “We will follow You as long as it does not create hardship, pain, or suffering.” I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we will not be of much use to God until we get over our insistence that we not enter into the sufferings of Christ. The Apostle Paul made it clear what Jesus' admonition means:

I have put aside all else, counting it worth less than nothing, in order that I can have Christ, 10 Now I have given up everything else—I have found it to be the only way to really know Christ and to experience the mighty power that brought him back to life again, and to find out what it means to suffer and to die with him. (Philippians 3:7-10 Living Bible)

Hardship, pain and suffering is what it cost Jesus to accomplish the will of His Father...namely, to bring salvation and hope to a world lost in sin headed for eternal hell. If we are to enter into the work of Christ (which is what Lordship is all about), our life expectancy should be the same as what our Lord willingly endured

This idea of “carrying our own cross” is counter intuitive to most of us. The only way we will make personal sense of sharing in the sufferings of Christ is by having an eternal perspective. It's the perspective the Apostle Peter wrote about in 1 Peter 1:6-7 -

6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various [a]trials, 7 so that the [b]proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which [c]is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

My prayer for you and me this day is this: Lord, teach us to know the brevity and passing nature of our earthly lives. Teach us to have Your eternal perspective. Remind us often of the glory ahead in heaven whenever we experience suffering and sacrifice for the kingdom's sake. To that end we commit our lives in the short years we have on earth. Amen.

Walk with the King today and be a blessing.