Before you leave home …
By the side of a pool in Croatia I mused about Luke 9:23, and what follows next flowed from that! I’m a bit of a routine person. Each morning begins the same; sandwiches, keys, phone accompanied by one or two coffees, depending on the night before or how distracted I am by the morning news. It’s the same most days; lunch to be picked at over the keyboard, access to the car, connection to everything and everybody else.
Normal life – but Jesus calls you to carry something far more costly – something you’re far more likely to forget. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
Not occasionally, not when it feels spiritual. Daily. The cross isn’t sentimental or symbolic. It’s not glitzy golden jewellery – perish the thought. It’s an instrument of death. A Roman cross meant only one thing – you were leaving, and you weren’t coming back. Sell your stuff – put everything on Vinted.
Jesus didn’t say, “Add me to your day.” He said, “Come and die.” That’s not poetic, it’s practical. The way we interpret that is different to the way Jesus’ hearers would have done. We adopt the easiest route, a bit like fasting where we assume that fasting means not watching tv, or something similar, but not missing food! No, to follow Christ is to kill the flesh, not manage it. To reckon yourself dead to sin, not flirt with it. “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11).
That word “consider” or “reckon” isn’t abstract. It’s not a suggestion. It’s a clear, calculated act of war. You are not who you were. Teh old man is dead. The flesh has no rightful claim – but it doesn’t go quietly.
And reckoning doesn’t mean sitting still. You don’t drift, slip-trip into holiness. You fight for it. And the battlefield isn’t out there somewhere-it’s in your pocket, in your feed, in your thoughts, in your tone when no one’s around. The flesh whispers constantly, and gently. It comes dressed as a suggestion, a curiosity, a comment, a shortcut. Apps and alerts engineered to feed desire and hijack your attention, click-baiting you into anything but follow hard after Christ.
Paul couldn’t be more emphatic, “Make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14). Don’t make room for it. Don’t let it breathe. Don’t bargain with it. Pull the plug.
But don’t fight empty-handed, don’t stand alone. Wrap yourself in the Word. Let it dwell in you richly-not as decoration, but as daily bread. Memorise it. Meditate on it. Reach for it when your flesh starts talking back. “Take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). Without it, you’re walking into battle barehanded. If you’re not feeding on Scripture, you’re feeding the flesh by default.
And you’re not meant to fight it in isolation. This isn’t a solo mission. Jesus calls individuals, but He forms a body. You need brothers and sisters who see your blind spots, speak truth into your excuses and your quirks, and walk with you when the road gets steep. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). You weren’t built to carry your cross alone. That’s another ‘mic drop’!
You don’t grow in grace by coasting. You grow by seeking. “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). You can’t steer your life into blessing while the handbrake is on. You can’t just hope for holiness, you’ve got to pursue it. Obedience isn’t legalism – it’s allegiance.
Paul puts it bluntly, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24). That’s not a metaphor. That’s identity. You don’t excuse sin. You don’t rename it. You drag it to the cross. You hold it there until it dies. Rinse & repeat.
And tomorrow, when you grab your sandwich, your keys, your phone—when you open your Bible app, when you brew that coffee—remember what matters most. Reckon yourself – consider yourself dead to sin. Feed on the Word. Be ruthless with your habits. Be careful with your time.
And above all, take up your cross. Again. And again. Until obedience stops feeling like pressure and starts feeling like joy.
Jesus didn’t just carry His cross to save you. He carried it to show you how to walk. So walk with Him, eyes up, cross on your back. Not just following rules. Following the King.
And don’t give up.