Taking Up Your Cross and Following Jesus

by Mike Ratliff

11 It is a trustworthy saying:
For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
If we will deny Him, He also will deny us;
13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.2 Timothy 2:11-13 (LSB) 

My favorite book outside of the Bible is John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. Bunyan, a Puritan, spent seven years in prison because he was a preacher, but a nonconformist in the eyes of the Anglican Church. He preached the pure gospel unencumbered by the empty religiosity of The Church of England at that time. However, God used this persecution in the man Bunyan. When he came out of prison for the last time, he had with him the manuscript for The Pilgrim’s Progress ready for a publisher. God uses suffering to prune his people. We are the clay. He is the potter.