"Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ:
Who, being being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross" (from Phil. 2).
Jesus took MY place on MY cross, sacrificing EVERYTHING for me. And after all that...I struggle to sacrifice my comforts and my dreams to follow Him. The King of the universe gave up His throne so that He could climb up onto the cross of shame and judgment that was supposed to hold ME. And yet I live like I deserve His sacrifice.
I don't.
The past couple of months, as I have meditated on the sacrifice Jesus made on my behalf, an image keeps coming to mind from the movie The Passion. You know the scene where the soldiers force Simon to carry the cross? Jesus comes alongside Simon to share a burden only one of them deserves. Together, they carry the cross that Simon should have been killed on but Jesus would be killed on. And Jesus comes alongside me, shouldering the load, even as He asks me to pick up my cross and FOLLOW. His tender mercies never cease to amaze me.
This month, as we confront and dethrone idols that have taken His place in our lives, I can't help but think the best place to start (and abide continually) is at the foot of the cross. Because HE is worth it...and in the end, our sacrifice is really no sacrifice at all.
Who, being being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross" (from Phil. 2).
Jesus took MY place on MY cross, sacrificing EVERYTHING for me. And after all that...I struggle to sacrifice my comforts and my dreams to follow Him. The King of the universe gave up His throne so that He could climb up onto the cross of shame and judgment that was supposed to hold ME. And yet I live like I deserve His sacrifice.
I don't.
But in His grace and mercy, He did what I could not do for myself--He made a way for me to have relationship with a perfect God.
The past couple of months, as I have meditated on the sacrifice Jesus made on my behalf, an image keeps coming to mind from the movie The Passion. You know the scene where the soldiers force Simon to carry the cross? Jesus comes alongside Simon to share a burden only one of them deserves. Together, they carry the cross that Simon should have been killed on but Jesus would be killed on. And Jesus comes alongside me, shouldering the load, even as He asks me to pick up my cross and FOLLOW. His tender mercies never cease to amaze me.
This month, as we confront and dethrone idols that have taken His place in our lives, I can't help but think the best place to start (and abide continually) is at the foot of the cross. Because HE is worth it...and in the end, our sacrifice is really no sacrifice at all.
"You are not your own...You were bought at a price" (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
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