Gen 5:24 And Henoch (Enoch) walked with God, and he was no more seene: for God tooke him away.
--Geneva Bible
Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.
Oh! for a closer walk with God,
A calm and heavenly frame;
A light to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb!
Where is the blessedness I knew
When first I saw the Lord?
Where is the soul-refershing view
Of Jesus and his word?
What peaceful hours I once enjoyed!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void,
The world can never fill.
Return, O holy Dove, return!
Sweet the messenger of rest!
I hate the sins that made thee mourn
And drove thee from my breast.
The dearest idol I have known,
Whate'er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne,
And worship only thee.
So shall my walk be close with God,
Calm and serene my frame;
So purer light shall mark the road
That leads me to the Lamb.
--William Cowper
1Jo 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Oh Good Shepherd, You go on before your flock.
I will follow closely so I don't lose sight of You, upon Whom my heart is set.
You Lead us and guide us in Paths of Righteousness for your Name's sake.
Let the quiet peace and comfort of seeing the Shepherd up ahead permeate my soul today.
Heb 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Jam 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/w/o/l/wolsidnr.htm
Wherewith, O Lord, shall I draw near,
And bow myself before Thy face?
How in Thy purer eyes appear?
What shall I bring to gain Thy grace?
Whoe’er to Thee themselves approve
Must take the path Thyself has showed;
Justice pursue, and mercy love,
And humbly walk by faith with God.
But though my life henceforth be Thine,
Present for past can ne’er atone;
Though I to Thee the whole resign,
I only give Thee back Thine own.
What have I then wherein to trust?
I nothing have, I nothing am;
Excluded is my every boast;
My glory swallowed up in shame.
Guilty I stand before Thy face;
On me I feel Thy wrath abide:
’Tis just the sentence should take place,
’Tis just—but O, Thy Son hath died!
Jesus, the Lamb of God, hath bled,
He bore our sins upon the tree,
Beneath our curse He bowed His head,
’Tis finished! He hath died for me!
For me I now believe He died!
He made my every crime His own,
Fully for me He satisfied:
Father, well pleased behold Thy Son.
He ever lives for me to pray;
He prays that I with Him may reign;
Amen to what my Lord doth say!
Jesu, Thou canst not pray in vain.
Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Matthew 10:24,25 RSV
We use the term to carry one's crosses sort of glibly, but let us take a moment to think about the context here. In Jesus' day, one would occassionally see an execution procession, where the victims were tied to the heavy crossbeams that would be used to execute them with, as they were marched to the place of execution where the uprights were placed permanently.
These were heavy beams, around a hundred pounds or so, and normally they would tie the victim's arms to it as he walked.
Here, we see Jesus saying, "Take up this load willingly. If you think you're going to save your life in the long run by running away from this burden, you will not, and you will lose. If you take it up and follow me, even though it looks like you are going, burdened, giving up, to a place of loss, you will find your life."
To repeat that, Jesus says:
Follow me if you want to live.
Deny yourself, and reject those things the world says are good, but God says are not.
Even if the world thinks you are burdened and a loser, you are not.
Those who follow the world will find themselves on the losing end.
Don't think it's just going to be a cakewalk. We're talking about giving up and accepting something contrary to the world's wisdom, and that can make it seem very heavy.
Jesus demonstrated this in a very literal way, by taking up his own cross, suffering and dying, and then rising on the third day. But one of the truths about being a follower of Jesus is being willing to give it all up for the glory and love of God. How we are asked to do that giving varies, but the giving is implicit in the relationship. If you are not willing to take up one's cross, you can't really follow Jesus the way he asks.
Prayer:
Each step, that day, O my Jesus, how hard it was,
that last, painful walk through the crowded holiday streets
beneath a burden incredibly hard to bear,
one foot following another,
a countdown you were born for,
each step one less to the time when you would walk no more
before tasting the depths of death.
Watching you in mind's eye, O my Jesus,
so many years after,
when the reality of this moment is doubted by so many in the world,
in my heart, seeing your blood and sweat streaked face marred beneath your thorny crown,
I contemplate your words, "Come to me, you who are heavy burdened," and know,
that as I watch you walk that short but o so long march
from the place of condemnation to the place of execution,
what weighs more on your shoulders than the hundred pounds of wood strapped to your arms
is the weight of so many sins,
my sins,
the griefs of a sin-drenched world
the darkness gnawing at the center of untold hearts,
a load you carried willingly
so that we might find rest.
O my Jesus,
may I, in my remembering,
learn to follow in your footsteps,
walking the road beneath the cross you give me
with as much love and willingness as my wavering heart can muster
for the love of the walk you took,
this day and always.
Amen.
BTTT
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/j/p/jpricelt.htm
Jesus, priceless Treasure,
Source of purest pleasure,
Truest Friend to me.
Ah, how long in anguish
Shall my spirit languish,
Yearning, Lord, for Thee?
Thou art mine, O Lamb divine!
I will suffer naught to hide Thee,
Naught I ask beside Thee.
In Thine arms I rest me;
Foes who would molest me
Cannot reach me here.
Though the earth be shaking,
Every heart be quaking,
Jesus calms my fear.
Lightnings flash and thunders crash;
Yet, though sin and hell assail me,
Jesus will not fail me.
Satan, I defy thee;
Death, I now decry thee;
Fear, I bid thee cease.
World, thou shalt not harm me
Nor thy threats alarm me
While I sing of peace.
God’s great power guards every hour;
Earth and all its depths adore Him,
Silent bow before Him.
Evil world, I leave thee;
Thou canst not deceive me,
Thine appeal is vain.
Sin that once did bind me,
Get thee far behind me,
Come not forth again.
Past thy hour, O pride and power;
Sinful life, thy bonds I sever,
Leave thee now forever.
Hence, all thought of sadness!
For the Lord of gladness,
Jesus, enters in.
Those who love the Father,
Though the storms may gather,
Still have peace within;
Yea, whatever we here must bear,
Still in Thee lies purest pleasure,
Jesus, priceless Treasure!