A little Journey to the Cross
It’s almost Easter. Something new hangs in my closet awaiting it’s Easter Morning Moment. Guests have been invited, the menu planned, the ham purchased. The church choir has been in rehearsals, together in the sanctuary and individually, alone in their cars, as they sing along with their rehearsal CDs. Tulips have broken ground in my yard, though no blooms have yet appeared. Eggs have yet to be hard boiled and dyed, The house still needs to be officially polished, and the last minute meal details await the appropriate time. It’s fun, exciting –Joyous!
It’s also almost Good Friday.
I admit, I participate in my church’s emphasis on Good Friday, but I don’t like to dwell on it. For my positive personality, it’s a definite downer. I want to skip over Good Friday, make mention of it sure, and then swoop on into Glorious Easter Sunday! I want to get to the Hallelujah part, the Glory! Glory! I long to focus in on the Majesty and Power of the Resurrection.
God reminded me this morning as I spent time in His Word, that I need to spend some time journeying to the cross. I wasn’t even reading any of the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion, I was in Galations! Still, God’s Spirit knows exactly what my soul needs. I was reading in Galations 6. The beginning of the chapter reminded me to carry the burdens of others. Okay, good, I believe I’ve been doing that, could do better, but don’t feel any conviction. Yet. Then verses 3-5: “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.” Ouch. I didn’t process these verses in the “normal” way, such as I’m thinking I’m hot stuff and I need to take a more honest evaluation of myself. Lately I’ve struggled with giving myself any value at all! I’ve been letting Satan tell me I’m not worth much. I’ve allowed him to twist my mind so that I keep comparing myself to others and find myself falling short of any measure of success.
God’s Precious Holy Spirit journeyed me to the foot of the cross as He nudged me to evaluate my own actions. I needed to hear His evaluation not what the devil would lead me to believe. I needed to face the reality that my all my actions were not what God had been asking of me. I needed to check my “obedience gauge.” And then I read Galations 6:7 & 8, “Do not deceived: God can not be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” Double Ouch! On my way to cross I had to ask myself, “Do I live out each day, sowing to please the Spirit? Am I continually asking God, ‘Will this please you?'”
I love how God doesn’t overwhelm me. The last two verses of Galations six read, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.” Yes God’s Spirit is leading me to the cross, AND He reminds me that Easter is on the other side. Hallelujah!
