“The way of the cross is a way of life.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – November 6, 2025
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23, NKJV
I set a goal for myself this year to become a runner. At one level, this is comical, as I have never been fast or particularly interested in running, yet I believe there is goodness in the struggle, and several months in, I am slowly seeing progress. Case in point: I hit a personal milestone just yesterday of running for an hour without stopping to walk. I woke up today a bit sore yet proud of my accomplishment. I also find myself tempted to take several days off, hoping the benefit of that single run will extend for days or weeks into the future. However, the painful truth of physical fitness is that once you complete one day’s work, the next day awaits you, and the discipline and effort shown the day before must again present itself for the new day.
The life of Christian discipleship is a lot like this.
There is one word in Luke 9:23 that causes me to stumble: daily. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” I can get my head around a few great moments of sacrifice in the life of a Christian. Perhaps a season of sickness or struggle that requires a great deal of self-giving love and humble service in the name of Christ, perhaps like running a marathon once a year. What’s much harder for me to get my head around is the idea of taking up my cross as a way of life. I take it up today, and do it again tomorrow, and the day after that.
The way of the cross is a way of life. To do something daily is to have it form and shape the core of your identity and rhythm of life, and this is the point! The cross of Christ is not simply a theological doctrine or historical event, though both are true. It is also the pattern of existence for every follower of Jesus, daily learning to die to our own desires, comforts, and pleasures that we may instead be set free to love others as we have been loved, even if it costs us our very lives.
Prayer
Father, help us to embrace the cross as a way of life that shapes and forms our daily habits and practices, so that we may become the men and women you have made us to be, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Application
What does it look like for you to take up your cross daily in this season of life?
Related Reading
Psalm 92:1–2; Lamentations 3:22–23; Romans 12:1–2
Worship Resource
Jon Guerra: Take Up Your Cross
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