The Cross

The cross what does this word mean to you? What do you think when you hear the word cross? What comes to your mind when you see a cross? So many we see on churches, in stores, on cars, in books on the Internet, on music cases and even people ware them. We see them on jewelry, on t-shirts and even body art. But what really does the cross mean. Is it just a simple way to tell other people that you believe in God or is it a symbol to others that there are Christians inside praising Jesus. Does it mean that when you drive down the road you are more blessed or that the music you are listening to will fill your ears and make you whole. What is it that you are really hearing or seeing when you encountered by a CROSS?
I hear over and over that cross is a universal symbol of Christianity. In the dictionary it says; a structure consisting of an upright with a transverse beam used by the ancient Romans for execution. Maybe I really should ask Jesus what the word cross means to him? Maybe we should ask the people on death row to answer the question honestly when asking them what they feel about lethal injection. They might say shame, guilt, not worthy, pain and desperation. That may seem a little extreme but maybe not.

When I think of the cross I think of all the things that I have had to bear in order to become closer to Jesus. I think of the pain, the pain that is so deep that only the Lord could understand or hear my voice screaming for a release. I think of humiliation, embarrassment that the world has cast upon me for the mistakes I have made. I think of sorrow for the relationships that I have lost. The blood and tears that I have shed through desperation for strength. Darkness that surrounds me like a storms cold heavy, intense clouds and the eerie silence of what is to come. I think about being tied to my past and persecuted for the things that I struggle with. I am weak my body trembles to hold on to the days that encircle me. I am thirsty me mouth is dry and my skin is cracking I beg for the flow of truth. I am tired I can barley see what is in front of me when will I rest in the shadows of perfection. I lay in my grave that still is exposed to the arrows of my enemy. The world beats down upon me, all I see is the darkness that weighs on me like a cloak of steel.
Christ carried his cross, beaten and bruised. He was nailed to the pain of the world and left to die on the sin we have created. The hands that touched sick now shed blood the feet that walked to heal the broken now shed blood too. His mouth too dry to swallow, his eyes filled with sorrow and his body to weak to stand. He feels the pull of each nail as his body begins to rest. He still calls out to God in the time of his death.

I cry out to you oh Lord. My spirit is clinching to the faith of becoming new but my body is slipping away tired and weak. I call out to you oh Lord how long do have to wait to hear your voice.
Still I wait in silence so that you will come and sit with me you can bring me into open places where the sky meets the sea and the fields behind me never end. You are the one who has changed me; you are the one I long for. I will shed one thousand tears and ten thousand more. Still I will never feel the pain that lies deep in the ocean of tears that you have wept for me.

Matthew; 10, 38-39
And anyone who dose not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Ask Jesus what the cross means to him. Ask what he feels when thinking of the cross. He will not tell you that it is just a symbol. It is what we can only hope for, that we too can die on a cross, filled with a lifetime of sorrow. Our pain that scars our bodies and the tears that blur our vision. When you can feel your heart breaking and you are not sure if you can take anymore. When the walls close in around you, the ground is too unstable to walk. Then we can get a glimpse of what Jesus has led us to do. We forsake Jesus for the cross that we carry; he died on our cross to save us from the sin of the world.
When I think of the cross I think of my testimony. The path that I have walked down, the darkness that I have endured. Life has brought me to so many places. The lessons that have been worth leaning have been ones of pain.
God you are the light on my path and the rest that I need with you I am and with out you I am not.

Romans; 6, 3-4
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We were there for buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead in the glory of the father, we too may live a new life.

Romans; 6, 8-10
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we also will live in him.
For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives he lives to God.