THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY.....WITH A DIFFERENCE

Since it is the Easter weekend I decided to do something different for Thoughtful Thursday instead of the usual quote....

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. – 1 Corinthians 1:17-19.

I often wonder how those who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus feel about the cross….do they look at pictures of the Crucifixion with disinterest? Do they think of Jesus on the cross and see an epic failure when I see absolute triumph!!

I recently bought a cross pendent and the first time I wore it a friend asked me why I would I wear a cross and my response was simple “It reminds me that someone loved me enough to give His life for me”. But here is the thing….it took me awhile to find an answer which sat (sat???) comfortably in my mouth. Had a cross become just another fashion accessory??? My friend then asked me if I really think a device which was used to torment a “holy man” was an appropriate thing to wear around my neck.  That kinda took me by surprise because I had never really thought of it that way. I don’t wear a crucifix with Jesus nailed to it but I choose to rather wear an “empty” cross.  I spent some time trying to decipher why this is and my only conclusion (for now) is that I seem to prefer to concentrate on Jesus overcoming death than actually being tortured and dying. 

Cross (n): An upright post with a transverse piece near the top, on which condemned persons were executed in ancient times…

But having said that there is no getting away from the fact that Jesus did suffer and die for me on that cross and that when you look at that simplistic shape you can’t help but be remind of all that happened because enveloped in it is where we find grace, where we find forgiveness and where we find the promise of eternal life. So to me the cross is a powerful symbol because I believe in what happened on Calvary and what those events mean for me today.  It is not just a trivial fashion accessory!!!

“It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.” ~John 13:1

By giving His life for us Jesus taught us so much and perhaps that is why the cross is such a powerful symbol because we I as a human can’t comprehend the kind of love that would  push someone to give their life for me.

There is a very old hymn I love to sing.  It’s not very modern and it certainly does not have a catchy tune but when I sing the words my mind is transported back to a hill with three crosses. I can picture the fresh wood used to make the crosses, the nails which have been hammered into the wood. I see Mary the mother of Jesus and John standing  in front of the cross, I can feel the tension, the pain and the anguish in the air. I can hear the crowds which are gathered to bear witness and then in my mind’s eye it all becomes quiet and the only  sound is that of a “man” breathing his final breath.  The scene changes and I am standing in an empty tomb. The scene changes once more as my imagination moves me forward, I am again standing on the hill but now the crosses are empty, they have been beaten by the elements and time has not been kind to the wood.  It has become dry and splintered, the nails rusty. There is no crowd now to bear witness, no sounds of a mother weeping  but as I lay my sins at the foot of the cross I can still hear the “man” breath his final breath………thank you Father!!! 

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suff’ring and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

Refrain:
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.

Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,

Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.

In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.

Have a very blessed and safe Easter weekend!!!