Accepted by a Few

Have you ever been at the wrong place at the wrong time? That’s what happened to a man named Simon. He was traveling to Jerusalem as the great Passover celebrations were about to begin. As he was heading into the city, a large crowd was coming out. Soldiers commandeered Simon and forced him to carry the execution cross of a badly beaten man struggling to walk under the heavy load of his cross. "Simon growls, balances the timber against his shoulder, and steps out of the crowd onto the street, out of anonymity into history, and becomes the first in a line of millions who will take up the cross and follow Christ. He did literally what God calls us to do figuratively: take up the cross and follow Jesus." [Max Lucado]