And after they had mocked Him, they took the purple cloak off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him. And they compelled a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross.

Sacrifice requires us to lay down what we value for someone else. It is not easy to lay down our rights, preferences, and privileges for another. We want to know that it will be for a good reason—that it will be worth it in the end. Jesus has given us this assurance in following Him. He said in Matthew 16:24-25, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Simon of Cyrene did this literally in today’s passage. He had to lay down his destination, his plan for the day, and his ease, to take on the cross of Jesus. This was a physical picture of the spiritual reality we all should take on when we follow Jesus. Taking up the cross and following Jesus is hard and inconvenient. Laying down what we value is unnatural but the way we find true life is through acknowledging it cannot come from us or the things of this world. It comes from God, who knows His creation perfectly and provides all we need for life with Him.

• What are some of the sacrifices you have made because of your faith in Christ?
• How have you struggled to take up your cross and follow Jesus? What is difficult about following Him faithfully each day?
• Pray and ask God to help you lay your life down daily for Him.