Embracing the Cross

When I first found this photo, I had another subject in mind about which to write. Tonight, as I sat at the computer to write, another train of thought came to mind as I studied the above image: "Embrace the Cross." (My ADD has been in rare form today so I will do my best to gather my thoughts into some comprehensible order.)

The concept of the cross and the embracing of it is totally confusing to one who has not met the Man whose surrender to the cross brought meaning and sense to it. In the day of Jesus Christ, the cross was a tool of death that was reserved for the vilest of vile. The fact that the purest of pure was impaled and left to die on the symbol of sin and death stretches all that is fair and right.

Jesus brought radical concepts to the people of His day and they are still having the same effect on society. In Mark 8:34-38 Jesus teaches, ""If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." The philosophy of the world is completely opposite from the above teaching. The world says one must grab as much as he can in order to live. "It's all about me" is the predominant philosophy. Jesus taught that if you really want to live, you must die. The death He refers to is not a literal, physical death, but a death to one's self and rights. When one gets to that point, he learns what "really living" is!

I've been reading the book, "The Shack" which has forced me to do some deep thinking. I've had to revisit my sterotyped concepts of God and stretch my understanding of how He sees me. The bottom line is relationships. My relationship with my heavenly Father is the most important thing in my life. That's who I'm to daily die to. I give up all of my rights to Him who is control of the universe and whose wisdom is far beyond what I comprehend. He leads me and helps me make my choices and decision. He lives in me and we are in communion continually. It's been such a wonderful way to live and He gives such deep peace. Daily I'm required to take up "my" cross and follow my Father. The journey has been wonderful and I'm never alone! Is it worth it? I can say yes, but ask me again in 100 years!