We might find it filled with sharp thorns under the flowers!

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(J.R. Miller)

"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

It is our own cross, and not some other man's--which we are to take up. It is the particular cross that God lays at our own feet, which we are to bear. We are never to make crosses for ourselves--but we are always to accept those which our heavenly Father has allotted to us. Each one's own cross--is the best for him.

Sometimes we think that our circumstances are peculiarly hard, and we compare it with the circumstances of this or that other person, and wish we had his cross instead of our own. But we do not know what other people's crosses really are. If we did, we might not want to exchange. If we put that cross which seems woven of flowers on our shoulders--we might find it filled with sharp thorns under the flowers! That cross of gold which seems so bright--we would find so heavy that it would crush us!

The easiest cross for each one of us to bear, is our own!
"Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God." 1 Corinthians 7:24

"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:11-13

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