Through The Bible in a Year - July 22, 2026

"Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.'" - Matthew 16:24-25

Jesus has just told His disciples He must die. And now He tells them: so must you—in a sense.

"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

This isn't an empty metaphor or sentimental poetry. In Jesus' day, a person carrying a cross was carrying their instrument of execution through the streets to the place where they would die. Everyone watching knew what it meant: this person has surrendered any claim to saving themselves.

That is what Jesus calls every follower to: a life that has surrendered its claim to self-preservation, self-advancement, and self-protection in order to fulfill Christ’s mission.

Such commitments are made not because suffering is good in itself. But because some things are worth dying for.

Kayla Mueller was a college student from Prescott, Arizona, who went to Syria to serve with Doctors Without Borders. Captured by ISIS, she was offered the chance to escape—yet stayed behind so that Syrian girls could flee. She knew that she was valuable to her captors and that ISIS would relentlessly hunt the other girls down if she were with them.

Her letter from prison: "I have come to the place in experience where I understand all you really have in the end is God. In every sense of the word, I have surrendered myself to the Creator because there is nothing else for me."

She understood what Jesus was saying. And she lived—and died—by it.

Most of us will not face an enemy as cruel as ISIS. But Jesus doesn't say "take up your cross only in extreme circumstances." He says take it up daily. That means:

Standing for ethics when your career is on the line. Refusing bitterness when someone controls your situation without care for you. Maintaining purity when the culture laughs. Staying faithful in a relationship that's hard. Giving money you could keep. Serving when you could rest. Witnessing when you could stay silent.

Every day, bearing your cross means that you are saying from your heart, and living with actions that confirm, “His mission matters more than my comfort.”

Respond: What cross is Jesus calling you to take up today? It probably won't involve ISIS. But it is real.

Maybe it's a conversation you've been avoiding because it might cost you a relationship. A commitment that will cost you time or money. An act of obedience that will cost you approval. A refusal to compromise that will cost you comfort.

Jesus says: "Whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

The mission is worth it because Jesus is the One who died for you and calls you to it. Still, the war is real. Cross-bearing is costly. But, the stakes are eternal, as are the blessings.

So, take up your cross and follow Him. Always the blessings and the glory of Jesus are at the end of that path.

Prayer: Dear Lord, You didn't ask me to admire the cross from a distance. You asked me to pick mine up and follow You. I confess I often want to follow You without the cross—enjoying the benefits of Your kingdom while avoiding its costs. Show me the cross You're asking me to carry today. Give me the courage of those who chose Your mission over their own reputation, comfort, or survival. Help me to deny myself so that I might declare your heart. Give me the willingness and strength to take up my cross so that I might lift up Jesus for all the world – and all my loved ones – to see and love because he went to the cross for me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.