Wednesday, March 19

The Cross

On Sunday, I forgot, but Emily had also mentioned the cross. How the cross is not a burden, since the Lord said, "my yoke is easy and my burden is light," (Mat 11:30).

Well, oddly enough, tonight Pastor Charley spoke on the cross. And it brought that part of Emily's message to mind, though he did not word it exactly the same. He did say a lot more about the cross itself...and now, because I believe it's important, I'm going to repeat it here but in my own words with a few other additions that I sensed in my spirit (like the emphasis on joy).


THE CROSS
. (Mt 16:24ff; Mark 8:34ff & 10:21; Luke 9:23ff; etc)

First off, Emily is right. It's not a burden. It's not something like a disease or some "cross to bear" like everyone always says. It's not awful. Nor, something horrible that we say "Whoa is me, I have to carry this thing!" I believe it is something that, at least in spirit, we have joy over it; over serving God in this way. Or at least, we should, for the Lord rebuked His people in Deuteronomy 28:47 when they neglected to serve Him with joy. And over in I Thessalonians 5:16 we are commanded to "Rejoice always" (NASB); while several times in Scripture, and particularly in Psalms 16:11, it declares that in God's presence there is "fullness of joy." Where is the burden in that?

Secondly, its like Pastor Charley said tonight. It's a voluntary action! You can choose it, or not. You can pick it up and lay it down later. Jesus hid and walked past a crowd that tried to kill Him (Luke 4:30 & John 8:59), and we know He had angels at His disposal (Ps 91:11-12; Matt 4:6 & Luke 4:10-11), YET He did not lay down His cross and sneak off on that day we now call the Day of His Crucifixion...Pastor Charley mentioned fasting. And I think that is a good example of a cross. We choose to do it, maybe because we really felt an urging from God or because we know that God doesn't ask "if" we fast but "when" or for some other reason, like the fulfillment of prayer. Or perhaps, all the above. But at any point, we could quit. We could never go through with it to start with, or we could stop halfway through the original time we had set aside for it. We might feel bad about it later, but we can quit! That's a cross we choose to carry! And, as an application of the cross, it may lead to other applications in your life; learning how to lay one thing down can lead to laying another down (like one bad thing leads to another, but in glorious reverse!). But, if we choose to carry it, it should be with joy and peace (Rom 14:17)...Sometimes a cross might be a responsibility, like honoring your earthly parents and supporting them as they get old (but remember, always with joy!), or some other thing we feel we must do...It is, however, not a disease! We can't choose a disease! ...Again, a cross is something we choose to carry! Even a responsibility, which may seem like an obligation, is something we can choose to carry and therefore is a cross.

Basically, a cross is not a burden and is a voluntary choice we must daily choose to carry. Hopefully, we'll learn to carry it with peace and joy and not a boasting "whoa is me" attitude (Gal 6:14), for only Christ's cross should be boasted of! And what burden is there EVER in serving the One you love? So rejoice! Die to yourself! And pick up your cross to follow Him (Heb 12:2)!

Christ's love to y'all,
<>< Hannah Joy

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