WARNING: FRAGILE. HANDLE WITH CARE.
My guess is you have seen that warning before. Those labels are red for a reason. They are designed to stop us, catch our attention, and remind us that careless handling can break something valuable.
Have you ever thought of Scripture as giving us those same red-label warnings?
Matthew 16:24 functions like a red label warning for the Christian. Jesus speaks to His disciples with an undeniable invitation, but that invitation also carries a serious declaration: following Him requires great care.
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.’”
Matthew 16:24
Most of us are familiar with this verse, but for a believer in Christ, it carries so much weight. These are Christ’s words. Even in our Bibles, they are often labeled RED.
Red for emphasis.
Red for importance.
Red today for an important warning.
Jesus has just warned His followers that things are not going to go as they might expect. He has revealed to them that He will suffer and die, but that He will be raised again.
Now comes the question with a warning:
Will you follow Me?
If you are to be My disciple, My follower, you must do these things:
Deny yourself.
Take up your cross.
Follow Me.
As the New Testament crowds followed Jesus, many grew excited at the possibility that He truly was the Son of David—the long-awaited Messiah.
Yet their understanding of the Messiah was incomplete. They were not looking for the suffering Servant Isaiah had prophesied about. Instead, they expected a political deliverer, a victorious ruler who would overthrow oppression and restore national hope.
A decision would have to be made.
Not much different than our decision today.
Will I follow after the Christ who has come? Or will I find the road too difficult and decide that the warning label of the Christian life doesn’t fit my own desires?
DENY YOURSELF
We are not creatures who like to deny ourselves the things we want. And yet Christ asks us first to deny ourselves—to say “no” to self.
This may mean surrendering our own plans, choosing forgiveness when it doesn’t feel right, or choosing obedience over our own ideas.
Denying myself is denying my own interests the right to rule. It is refusing to position myself on the throne of my heart. When self demands allegiance, I am saying, “You are no longer my master.”
It is an utter denial of self-authority over our lives.
That is on the warning label.
TAKE UP YOUR CROSS
Immediately, Jesus’ audience would have understood the grave meaning of the cross: death, humiliation, and suffering.
We cannot miss the weight of the cross in Jesus’ words.
But for this moment, notice the words “take up.”
The cross is not something we simply encounter; it is something we deliberately take up. There is a choice of obedience here.
Jesus modeled this Himself in Gethsemane when He prayed, “Not My will, but Yours be done.” He knew the cost before Him, yet He willingly surrendered His will to the Father.
Taking up our cross is choosing obedience in denial of ourselves.
Where might that obedience lead?
Sometimes it may lead into a crisis we never would have chosen—a season of suffering, loss, or circumstances beyond our control.
But sometimes the crisis is simply a crisis of our own will.
The cross tells us the seriousness and cost of following Christ. But “take up” reminds us that obedience is deliberately chosen.
That is on the warning label.
FOLLOW ME
Sounds simple enough. Right?
Following is more than admiring Christ. It is a call to walk in His steps.
“For you have been called for this purpose, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you would follow in His steps.”
1 Peter 2:21
Peter knew this all too well. He had walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, and watched His suffering. I can imagine Peter recalling those words of Christ:
“Follow Me.”
He knew the red labels, and he made the choice to follow in His steps.
Christian discipleship is walking, imitating, and becoming more like the One we are following.
Consider that His steps included joy and suffering.
His steps included grace, love, mercy, zeal, faith, meekness, humility, prayer, servanthood, patience, courage, and obedience.
This is just a fair warning. RED LABEL WARNING: FRAGILE. HANDLE WITH CARE.
This is a serious warning. To be a follower means to dethrone self, take up obedience, and walk in a manner that imitates our Christ.
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
Galatians 2:20
Heed the warning.
It is there to call your attention—
to remind you to handle with care your walk as a believer.
Deny yourself.
Take up your cross.
Follow Him.
And follow well, my friends.
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