READ: Matthew 16:24-28
“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” – Luke 9:23
Unfortunately, some Christians are under the delusion that there must be some short cut to Heaven. You cannot escape the Christian rudiments and go to
Heaven.
You cannot escape the cross. There is no short cut around the cross. In this day and age of instant coffee, instant tea and jet travel, everybody wants to have things fast, quick and short.
In boarding school, I learnt the hard way that short cuts must be avoided. I obtained an excuse duty slip from the doctor, which exempted me from any assigned chores for four days. After I had taken
a friend’s suggestion and changed the “4” days to “14”, this friend betrayed me. He was the first Judas I was to meet in my life. I suffered greatly for that mistake. First of all, my four
days of excuse were cancelled and I was given the most difficult chores to do, as well as extra punishment. From that time, I decided there would be no more short cuts in my life.
I realized long ago that there is no short cut to Heaven. I will have to go the hard way. When you put seed into the ground, it will need to go through the long process of dying and growing before yielding fruit. Unfortunately, some of us want to escape the processes of dying and growing up. You cannot expect to just put money in the offering and hope that everything will be alright. You cannot avoid the reality of fasting, praying, fellowship, and witnessing. These are biblical standards we just cannot avoid!