“Whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27). 
“I guess that’s just my cross to bear.” Have you heard someone say that? Usually we refer to something that’s bothering us, some burden that we wish we didn’t have to deal with. Sometimes it’s something very difficult, but often I have heard people referring to momentary struggles as a “cross.” But is that what Jesus is really talking about here? Is he referring to a struggle with a co-worker or a disagreement with a neighbor or even a medical challenge? Is that what Jesus means when he says, “Carry your cross”?
A cross, remember, was an instrument of death in the Roman world. It was a horrible, brutal method of execution that did not apply to Roman citizens, only to occupied people (like the Hebrews) or to slaves. And more than that, when a person was condemned to death on a cross (as Jesus was), they had to carry the means of their execution from the place of condemnation to the place of execution. Jesus, of course, would do that. And to carry the cross meant that death was inevitable. Before too long, the person carrying that heavy cross beam would be in pain and then they would die. A cross meant death. To carry your cross meant death. And Jesus says to be his disciple means you have to carry your cross.
To be a disciple, Jesus tells those in this story who are “hanging-on,” means you have to die to yourself, give up your own preferences for the sake of the kingdom of God. To be a disciple means we trade our life for his, that Christ begins living through us. Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Discipleship begins with a death—death to self, death to sin, death to the old way of life. For it’s only when we die that our life can really begin.
That’s a hard concept to communicate to people today. We think life is doing whatever we want, being who we want to be, grabbing all the gusto you can. Life is “carpe diem,” seize the day! And many, many people live life like that, but there’s a emptiness in that sort of life. It’s always looking and hoping for the next thrill, the next high, the next moment of happiness (that we know will be gone when the buzz wears off or when the morning comes). The life of a disciple, by contrast, is a life that is fulfilled by serving, by making Jesus’ priorities our own, by being able to give ourselves to something that matters more than our own pleasure. We were made for a purpose. We were made to be fulfilled by giving ourselves away, and to be able to do that, we have to die to ourself and our own needs. Real life begins with a cross. Real life begins with a death. If you want to be a disciple, carry your cross and find real life.