Sunday, May 05, 2024

The Cross of Christ

Traveling home from Saint Louis I came upon a crossroads of Effingham, Illinois. There stood a large cross. This cross was placed by donors in hopes that it would remind people of the importance of the Cross of Christ. It is a representation of the hope we have through the suffering of Christ and His death. It also stands to represent the resurrection of Christ. Christ is no longer on the cross! It stands as a crossroad for all of us!

The crossroad of life is that place where a decision is made on every journey. It is the space where we either go on our journey deliberately choosing which way to go. 

These crossroads may be moral choices. They may be career related. They may be daily challenges that we can have to choose the correct attitude of life. 

Crossroads are where Christ meets us, daily. With Christ helping us through the work of the Holy Spirit, the Truth of His Word, and the patterns of life the last honors God as creator. We have opportunities that await us when we arrive at these crossroads.

The Cross is where, for many we have found grace and the blessings of a relationship with Christ. The cross is where many are yet to find this hope. The cross is how we understand the work that Christ wants to do in us and through us. 

If you reading this and wonder how to have a personal relationship with Christ, please message me. 

While in Saint Louis, I attended a Presbyterian Church. The pastor and leader of the conference I attended shared a profound message. His statement (shown here) reads: “Too many people look to their weaknesses rather than their strength… God gives us hope we can count on!” - William  (Bill) McConkey. We can grow as a disciple only if we depend on Him. Yet, God has given us gifts and through the Spirit we also discover the Fruit of the Spirit. These are the strengths we inherit for God’s purpose. 

At the conference I attended a devotional was shared that reminded me that God has a purpose but we have an assignment! I get my assignment by knowing Christ!

If you have already found the grace the cross represents, celebrate and keep going as a disciple of Christ. The Bible is the only authority we have as we proclaim our testimony and life-change. 

Colossians 3:10 simply tells us to “put on the new nature…” This is the goal of every crossroad of life. The nature of God, through what Christ did in the cross, is meant to change us from within. 

Every crossroad should bear the reminder of the Cross. This should put us in the right path of The Way of salvation and the furtherance of grace!