WERE YOU THERE

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
The life I live is the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and
gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20.

The cross is a place of peace and power. Just look at this man’s letter:

“I spent one-and-a-half years on a kidney machine before getting a transplant. At first I did a lot of complaining, but then I stopped when I read the account of the Crucifixion. Because in the kidney center, they helped me get out of my coat; with Jesus, they stripped off his clothes. When entering the center, the nurses spoke a kind word; Jesus heard ‘Crucify him!’

“On my machine I would develop a headache and they would bring me an ice pack and aspirin; a crown of thorns was shoved on Jesus’ head. Sometimes I would get thirsty and they’d give me juice; Jesus got vinegar. I laid on a comfortable bed for five hours; Jesus hung on nails. I hardly felt the needle they inserted in my vein; spikes were driven through Jesus’ hands and feet. My blood was cleansed; His blood spilled on the ground.

“Jesus turned my days of complaining into days of praising when I took time to look at the cross. A careful look into the events that took place that day on Calvary should stop all our complaining.”
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The cross is a place where one dies to self, enjoys no rights, and grovels in humility. How odd for our Lord to invite us to be crucified with Him; but God knows the cross is also a place of grace, and the nearer one draws to Calvary, the more abundant the peace and power.

O blessed cross, teach me to nail my cares to You. Crucify my complaining, mortify my grumbling, and cause me to praise!

Joni Eareckson Tada website