Station 2: Simon helps carry the cross | Reflection by Tara Warner

As I consider this week’s station, Simon Carries the Cross, I can’t help but think of my word for the new year. Do you do that? Do you have a word for the new year? It’s a bit of a new trend, but instead of having a resolution, you choose a main idea/focus for the year. I love praying over what that word could be. I’ve only started in the last 3-4 years, but I enjoy it. It’s nice to quiet myself and ask the Lord what His heart is for me.

This year, the word I was given was diligent. My focus is to be diligent in my relationships, work, goals, etc. Nothing fancy, no big fanfare, just diligence. I was really struck with the simplicity of it:

Dictionary.com defines diligent as: constant in effort to accomplish something; attentive and persistent in doing anything; done or pursued with persevering attention.
Merriam-Webster defines diligent as: characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort: painstaking. 

In just a few short weeks, that one little word has radically changed me. It’s weird because I am not doing much that is different. The biggest change is that I wake up and ask our Father, “What are Your plans for me today?” (That’s kind of funny because as a mom who runs a family of 8, I know what’s going on that day.) Yet, that one question, paired with my goal to be diligent, has transformed me.

For some reason I had it in my head that Jesus was off on the sidelines coaching me. Or maybe He was away and I was working for Him, like the different masters Jesus tells parables about throughout the gospels.

Yet as I read “And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus” (Luke 23:26, NIV), I see a man who was given a task that was painstaking. He took that cross, Jesus’ shame, and carried it. 

Other words from Jesus echo as I read about Simon: “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:30, NIV)...”Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24, NIV). Wow! Simon actually got to live it. He’s not the only one; we’re invited to follow this example: to live out each day in the same steps as our Savior, following Him to the cross. We’re invited to stay diligent, steadily following Him, and be with Him as we go about tasks.