Pick up the cross, build and conquer
In today’s post, I intend on helping all the individuals who are extremely indecisive.
You see, when I started my journey with Jesus, I was very young and naive. I thought that everything would be served to me on a silver plate.
I was aware and I knew that God spoke to me on several matters of my life in which I was supposed to act and acquire. However, I had a strong belief that the realisation of God’s promises would all come on a silver plate without my participation nor my ‘risks investments’.
Oh, I was wrong!
I gave my life to Christ when I was just 14 and by 19, life had slapped me with some of my early failures in my Christian journey where I had failed to fully comply with some of the instructions God gave me.
I made the mistake of ‘sitting back and hoping that things would come my way without my participation and courage’.
I think that the mistakes I committed are also done by many Christians around the world and I will explain why the same mistake is committed.
20 to 30 years ago, some preacher or a group of preachers misinterpreted the passage of John 19:30 which states: ‘When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit’.
Those preachers interpreted the verse as a symbol illustrating that we have nothing to do because Jesus did all that needed to be done. As a result of that popular teaching, we had built a generation of ‘potato couch Christians’ who can’t stand any form of adversity.
What we need to understand by the passage of John 19:30 is that Jesus said ‘it is finished’ in the context of His mission and His part. Jesus was making reference to His mission.
I know that some people will definitely try to contradict me and oppose my views. However, if there is nothing to do, then why did Jesus send His disciples in the Great commission after His death (Matthew 28:18-20)?
In ‘lazy Christianity’, it is popular to choose escapism.
However, Jesus was clear. He said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’. (Matthew 16:24)
In other words, though Jesus died, He tells us to follow Him and to carry our cross. He is not telling us that He carries our cross, and He is not asking us to carry His cross.
Jesus carried His cross and we also have to carry our own. By carrying our cross, we follow the example of Jesus.
In the parable of the two builders, Jesus said:
‘ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
(Matthew 7:24-27)
Notice that the wise builder found the Rock which represents the Words of Jesus. The wise builder does not just stare at the Rock and says: ‘Everything is finished, there is nothing to be done!’
The wise builder goes beyond just contemplating the Rock and he builds upon it.
Many Christians fail to see tangible achievements in their lives because they never build anything on what Jesus said and done.
And finally, I would like you to think about what the Apostle Paul wrote:
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’
In this passage, Paul wrote that we are more than conquerors through Jesus who loved us. Paul never wrote that we are conquerors. He wrote that we are more than conquerors. This means that Jesus is the conqueror, and we are conquering from the level where Jesus conquered. In other words, our conquest starts from where Jesus conquered. This is why he wrote that we are more than conquerors.
If we are more than conquerors, then why is it that many Christians live extremely defeated lives?
Conquests are preceded by a fight. You cannot become a conqueror if you don’t rise against a form of adversity. Jesus has won the biggest fight. He is the conqueror. We continue from where He has won. If there were no battles to conquer, then why would Paul tell us to wear the fighting armor in Ephesians 6:10-17?
You see my friend, if we ask the right questions, we will likely understand the Bible better and we will likely live an impactful Christianity.
The verse stating that ‘we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us’, was not written out of the blue. If you read the chapter, you will notice that Paul mentions that we, as followers of Christ, will face adversity in the form of death, demons, hardship, famine, nakedness, persecution, the present, the future, etc.…’
However, in the midst of those adversities we have to live more than conquerors. We cannot accept having a life dragged by those various forms of adversities.
A Christian who sits back, while assuming that there is nothing to be done, will easily be dragged by those adversities.
If we build on the words of Jesus (by practically applying and confessing His words), we will build a house like the wise builder.