You don’t get to choose your own cross—it’s designed and appointed for you by God’s love, and you’re to accept it willingly. Today, Jesus asks you to take on His easy yoke. Jesus Himself carried a cross, leading the way through sorrow. Surely, you wouldn’t want a better guide! And if He carried a cross,

what greater burden could you desire? The path of the cross is the path to safety, so don’t fear its rough terrain. It’s a wooden cross, and a human can carry it, for the Man of Sorrows bore the weight Himself. Take up your cross, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, you’ll soon come to love it.

I recently read about a ship caught in a storm, where a massive wave—the size of a mountain—crashed over it, putting out the engine fires and sweeping away the wheel, leaving the ship adrift like a log in the sea. Many people have been overwhelmed by

prosperity in a similar way—a wave of wealth has drowned them, extinguishing the fire of their zeal and taking away their sense of direction, leaving them to drift between the waves of worldliness and pride. "Lord, save us; we are perishing."