WEBVTT

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Day 293, or October the 20th. Just get on with

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it. Our thoughts today are rooted in Luke chapter

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14, verse 27. And whoever does not carry their

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cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. And

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now the big picture surrounding this verse. Much

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of his southern ministry is spent on the east

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side of the Jordan River, in the area called

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Perea. It is never called by its proper name

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in the Bible, but is usually referred to as the

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area beyond the Jordan. It's the area where John

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the Baptist ministered and the general area that

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is called Moab in the Old Testament. If you use

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a red -letter Bible which prints all the words

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of Jesus in red, most of the next few pages in

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the Bible are almost all red. This makes them

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very special as we have the actual words of Jesus

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recorded by Luke after consulting with eyewitnesses.

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This eastern side of the Jordan Rift Valley was

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the usual route for travellers going north or

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south in order to avoid the unclean area of Samaria

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that divided northern Galilee from southern Judea.

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And now today's action step. You must have heard

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people say, it's my cross and I have to bear

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it, meaning it's a burden but I have to carry

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it as part of following Jesus. I don't believe

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this text means that. The whole reason for Jesus

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coming to earth was to die on the cross to reconcile

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us with God for eternity. He had a job to do.

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He had to carry his cross. Now for the rest of

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us, that is not our task. but nevertheless we

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have a job to do, or, if you like, a cross to

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carry. It's picturesque language to remind us

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that Jesus did his job superbly, and we, with

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his help, must endeavour to be as faithful and

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effective as possible. Mark chapter 8 verse 34

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reminds us, Then calling the crowd to join his

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disciples, he said, If any of you wants to be

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my follower, you must turn from your selfish

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ways, take up your cross and follow me. So it's

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not a burden to carry, but a job to do. So the

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questions are obvious. Have you discovered your

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job? And are you doing it? We all have to take

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up our cross today.