Text:Luke 23:1-49
The city of Jerusalem was jammed. I turned to work my way out of the crowd and was suddenly face to face with an angry Roman Soldier. He grabbed me and shouted, "You carry the cross!" I was pushed in front of a man bearing up under a heavy cross of timber. I expected to see the face of a man so hardened and cruel but to my surprise, love shone through saddened eyes that seemed to look deep into my soul.
The soldier shoved me beneath the cross. When we arrived at Golgotha, the soldiers pushed me aside. I watched them nail this man to a cross. As I stood to the side, I heard him say, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Who was this man who could forgive them even through this kind of pain and suffering, knowing the worst was yet to come?
I found myself unable to leave. The sky darkened. Fear and tension gripped the crowd. What was happening? I fell to the ground. I then heard a centurion say, "Truly this was the Son of God." I will never forget the scene that night on the dark hillside! To think that I saw Him die. I had been the one chosen to bear His cross - the cross that brought death to God's own son!
The city of Jerusalem was jammed. I turned to work my way out of the crowd and was suddenly face to face with an angry Roman Soldier. He grabbed me and shouted, "You carry the cross!" I was pushed in front of a man bearing up under a heavy cross of timber. I expected to see the face of a man so hardened and cruel but to my surprise, love shone through saddened eyes that seemed to look deep into my soul.
The soldier shoved me beneath the cross. When we arrived at Golgotha, the soldiers pushed me aside. I watched them nail this man to a cross. As I stood to the side, I heard him say, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Who was this man who could forgive them even through this kind of pain and suffering, knowing the worst was yet to come?
I found myself unable to leave. The sky darkened. Fear and tension gripped the crowd. What was happening? I fell to the ground. I then heard a centurion say, "Truly this was the Son of God." I will never forget the scene that night on the dark hillside! To think that I saw Him die. I had been the one chosen to bear His cross - the cross that brought death to God's own son!
A CROSS TO BEAR
Only when His blood is applied to our hearts can we be set free from sin and eternal death. He loves us so much! We have all been chosen to bear the cross of Christ. But some of us are running from it out of fear. We have watched others who have taken up that cross, bearing it for Jesus, for the sake of sharing the Gospel with the world. We have seen suffering they have had to endure, and we want no part of it. But we cannot compare our calling with someone else's calling. Our journey most likely will be much different than theirs. No matter what it brings, trust in the Lord and know that all that we go through is to prepare and strengthen us with the ability to bear the cross for Him.
Allow the work of the cross to change you. Stop running and fighting to escape the "crowd" as Simon of Cyrene did. Don't let it take the brutal hands of an angry soldier to throw you at the feet of Jesus. But LET THE LOVE OF GOD COMPEL YOU TO BEAR THAT CROSS FOR CHRIST. After all...Christ bore the sufferings of the cross for you.
Do YOU remember YOUR day.....or maybe you have yet to TAKE UP THAT CROSS....and FOLLOW HIM????
And when He had called the people to Himself; with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whosoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." Mark 8:34
Connie J. Schmoll
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