_THE DAILY CROSS_
LUKE ix. 18-26.
Our Lord never bribes His disciples by promising them ways of sunny ease.
He does not buy them with illicit gold. He does not put the glittering
crown upon the entrance-gate, and hide the cross behind the wall. No: on
the very first stage of the sacred pilgrimage there falls "the shadow of
the Cross." "_Let him take up his cross daily, and follow Me._"
And yet, the Lord's blessing is hidden in the apparent curse. In the act
of bearing the cross we increase our strength. That is the heartening
paradox of grace. Virtuous energies pass from our very burdens into our
spirits, and thus "out of the eater comes forth meat." We bravely shoulder
our load, and lo! a mystic breath visits the heart, and a strange facility
attends our goings! The dead cross becomes a tree of life, and a secret
vitality renews our souls.
How foolish, then, O heart of mine, to avoid and evade Thy cross! Refuse
the burden, and thou declinest the strength! Ignore the duty, and thou
shalt feel no inspiration! Carefully husband thy blood, and thou shalt
remain for ever anæmic! But lose thy life, and thou shalt find it!