Take Up Your Cross or you cannot be My disciple

Mother and I have often talked about: What does it mean to "take up your cross and follow Me?"

Henry Blackaby's book "Experiencing the Cross" puts it this way...in Chapter 12

"We tend to think mostly of our need simply to count the cost of following Him and of doing God's will in our life. Certainly, we have to do that. But I believe there is more here. I think He specifically wants us to recognize, accept, and bear the cost involved in dealing personally with our sin. We cannot understand the cross of Jesus Christ without grasping that it's primarily about God's confrontation with man's sin. Jesus is telling us that for you and me to even think of following Him in a worthy manner, the cross must be central in our life-which means dealing with sin must be central in our lives.

It's unthinkable to say, "Father, thank you for laying the sin of the world on Your Son. ...but please don't talk to me about sin in my life. I just want to have the joy of following You."