March 26: Take Up Your Cross Daily

You made the decision last week. Why does it feel like you have to make it again today?

Jesus told His followers that anyone who wanted to come after Him must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Him.

Luke includes a word the other Gospels don’t. Daily.

Following Jesus isn’t a single moment of decision followed by autopilot. It’s a decision you make every day. Each morning you choose again to deny yourself, which means saying no to self-will running the show, and follow Him.

That matches what people in recovery have always found about Step Three. You make the decision once in a formal way, often with the Third Step prayer. But then you find it has to be renewed. Self-will doesn’t die in a day. It comes back every morning wanting the wheel. So every morning, you hand it back.

That isn’t failure. It’s how it works. Like eating. You don’t eat once and expect to be full forever. Like washing. You don’t shower once for life. Some things are daily by design.

There’s actually freedom in “daily.” You don’t have to surrender your whole future today. Just today. You don’t have to deny yourself for the next forty years. Just between now and bedtime. Recovery’s one-day-at-a-time idea fits Jesus’ words well. A day is a size you can carry.

What does taking up your cross look like on an ordinary day? It might mean choosing honesty when a small lie would be easier. Apologizing first. Going to a meeting when you’d rather stay home. Serving someone when you’d rather be served. Saying no to a situation that’s risky for your sobriety. Small deaths to self, for the sake of following Him.

They add up. A life of daily surrender becomes a different kind of life.

One thing today

Put a sticky note on your bathroom mirror with one word: “Daily.” When you see it each morning, pray a short Step Three prayer before you leave the room.

A prayer

Jesus, I want to follow You, but my self-will keeps coming back. Today, I’m choosing You again. Help me deny myself and follow You until tonight.

Daily surrender is Step Three lived out.

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