Morning, April 5

Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings

"On him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus."

  Luke 23:26

   We see in Simon's carrying the cross a picture of the work of the
   Church throughout all generations; she is the cross-bearer after Jesus.
   Mark then, Christian, Jesus does not suffer so as to exclude your
   suffering. He bears a cross, not that you may escape it, but that you
   may endure it. Christ exempts you from sin, but not from sorrow.
   Remember that, and expect to suffer.

   But let us comfort ourselves with this thought, that in our case, as in
   Simon's, it is not our cross, but Christ's cross which we carry. When
   you are molested for your piety; when your religion brings the trial of
   cruel mockings upon you, then remember it is not your cross, it is
   Christ's cross; and how delightful is it to carry the cross of our Lord
   Jesus!

   You carry the cross after him. You have blessed company; your path is
   marked with the footprints of your Lord. The mark of his blood-red
   shoulder is upon that heavy burden. 'Tis his cross, and he goes before
   you as a shepherd goes before his sheep. Take up your cross daily, and
   follow him.

   Do not forget, also, that you bear this cross in partnership. It is the
   opinion of some that Simon only carried one end of the cross, and not
   the whole of it. That is very possible; Christ may have carried the
   heavier part, against the transverse beam, and Simon may have borne the
   lighter end. Certainly it is so with you; you do but carry the light
   end of the cross, Christ bore the heavier end.

   And remember, though Simon had to bear the cross for a very little
   while, it gave him lasting honour. Even so the cross we carry is only
   for a little while at most, and then we shall receive the crown, the
   glory. Surely we should love the cross, and, instead of shrinking from
   it, count it very dear, when it works out for us "a far more exceeding
   and eternal weight of glory."