Take up the Cross

Matthew 16:24-25 (ESV) 
24  Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 
25  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Thomas a `Kempis was born in the Rhineland town of Kempen near Düsseldorf in Germany. He entered into the priesthood after attending school at nearby Deventer in Holland which had been started by Gerard Groote, founder of the Brothers of the Common Life. These were men devoted to prayer, simplicity, and union with God. Thomas of Kempen, as he was known at school, was so impressed by his teachers that he decided to live his own life according to their ideals. When he was 19 he entered the monastery of Mount St. Agnes, which the Brothers had recently started near Zwolle in Holland and which was then being administered by his older brother John. He spent the rest of his long life behind the walls of that monastery.

Thomas wrote a number of sermons, letters, hymns, and information about the lives of the saints. He reflected the mystical spirituality of his times, the sense of being absorbed in God. The most famous of his works by far is The Imitation of Christ - instruction on how to love God. It’s a book that has had great appeal to anyone interested in probing beneath the surface of life. "A poor peasant who serves God," Thomas wrote in it, "is better than a proud philosopher who … ponders the courses of the stars." The book advised the ordering of one's priorities to seek God. " The Imitation of Christ has come to be, after the Bible, the most widely translated book in Christian literature. Not bad for a monk who lived and died in obscurity.

The Royal Road of the Holy Cross
Why do you fear to take up the cross when through it you can win a kingdom? In the cross is salvation, in the cross is life, in the cross is protection from enemies, in the cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness, in the cross is strength of mind, in the cross is joy of spirit, in the cross is highest virtue, in the cross is perfect holiness. There is no salvation of soul nor hope of everlasting life but in the cross.
 Take up your cross, therefore, and follow Jesus, and you shall enter eternal life. He Himself opened the way before you in carrying His cross, and upon it. He died for you, that you, too, might take up your cross and long to die upon it. If you die with Him, you shall also live with Him, and if you share His suffering, you shall also share His glory.
– Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ