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As the Easter season closes for this year, I am reminded of a line from a friend's recent prayer. She prayed something like "may our lives be more than bearing our crosses."
It's easy to recall the disturbing images we have seen in movies of Jesus bearing his cross, struggling to carry it through the crowds of Jerusalem on the way to his crucifixion. To some the cross is a symbol of suffering, and we may think of bearing our crosses as dragging our burdens, our wounds, our pain, and our troubles around with us as we try to get through the day. Others may think of the cross as a symbol of death and our need to put our sinful desires to death, to lay down our lives, our plans, and our desires as we turn our lives over to God and seek to do his will on a daily basis.
But the series of pictures given to me that day when my friend prayed, displays the joy of the empty cross and the new life it represents. In my mind's eye, I first saw a close up picture of my hand, like Jesus' hand, but with the dark imprint of a small cross rather than his nail piercing. Then the cross in my hand transformed into a small black cross one might wear on a necklace. In the next scene, I was handing the cross to someone; I was handing over the hope of the cross. Then I saw a crowd, and I was passing out a whole handful of crosses to those around me. Not only me, but other believers were moving through the crowd handing out crosses too. The crosses represented Biblical truths and other words of encouragement. It was a party-like atmosphere with smiles, laughter, and hugs as hope was taken hold of and burdens were let go. Those passing out the crosses were giving each other high fives, palms with imprints of crosses coming together in celebration. These seemed to be pictures of what life ought to be, and how we were designed to live.
With the joy of the Lord as our strength, even in the most difficult times, we can share the hope that under girds us, the faith call us forward, and the strength that can only come from the one true God. An example of this was my friend who courageously shared a message of hope on Easter in the midst of her story of the recent loss of her father only a month after his cancer diagnosis. She was handing out crosses even in the midst of her own need for healing. Hebrews 10:22-25 says, "let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings...Let us hold unswerving to the hope we profess...And let us consider how we may spur on another on...encouraging one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
We're not here merely to bear our crosses. We're here to give out the hopeful message of an empty cross that declares triumph over death and the difficulties of life, the message of a God that loved us so much that he gave his only son to die for us, and he sent the Holy Spirit to be with us forever (Jn.3:16, Jn.14:16-17). We all have painful Good Friday times, we all have the Saturday before Easter times of uncertainty when we fear all is lost, and we all have those victorious Easter Sunday times when new life comes. Let us strive to live as much of our lives as possible on Sunday and remember to hand out crosses of hope to those stuck in Friday or Saturday. We who know the hope of Jesus are here to joyfully pass it on to others.
I encourage you to click on to the link below and listen to Lea Salong's rendition of Via Dolorosa listed below. May it remind you that though the journey of life will lead you through painful times, there is always the hope of the cross. The empty cross represents the depth of the love of our Heavenly Father. "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
(1 John 3:1)
Imagine today that you hold a little cross in your hand, and pass it on to someone who needs a little hope.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67XrqXXTceM