Your Cross Today
By “Today” I do not mean, as one might say, “in this day and age.” I am not speaking broadly, as to this current generation. No, by “Today” I mean this present day, Wednesday, April 28, 2021 (if you are reading this the day of its posting). How does the Cross of Christ, and your identification with Him in that crucifixion affect / transform / obligate you this moment, as you pour your cereal, buy a newspaper, drive to work… or take a stroll?
The daily approach is the one to which Christ directs us: “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own,” He said (Matt. 6:34). “Give us today our daily bread,” He taught us to pray (Matt. 6:11). “I die daily,” confessed Paul (1 Cor. 15:31, KJV).
What this means is to remember always “…You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” (1 Cor. 6:19b-20). Yes, our sinful man is “crucified with Christ,” but for us it is not yet the ninth hour… the flesh still writhes on that cross, shouting obscenities, cursing its fate. In him there is “no good thing” (Rom. 7:18). Yes, “I have been crucified with Christ…,” but I also continue to “now live in the body.”
Two natures now war within the redeemed. But now… now the saint has a CHOICE. He is no longer bound to be carnal as that dying nature insists, he can “put to death” that which belongs to it. (Col. 3:5); he can surrender his will to that new nature within him… to the Holy Spirit… aye, to Christ.
This happens by multiple decision, at multiple crossroads, daily: you pour your cereal with greater thankfulness, for food, for variety, for nutrition, life and the pleasures of taste, you smile at the drudging clerk as you buy that newspaper, and whisper a prayer for the sad souls in the tragedies it reports, while driving or strolling you let shine Christ as you go, showing patience, love, and respect.
Crossroads they are indeed! But by right affirming and right acting, in time choosing the right grows in us, we find we are changing, we are becoming more each moment “conformed to the image of Christ.”… in actuality… in the daily… here, now… “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” (Phil. 2:15). That former you will “no longer live” and you will say with Paul, “Christ lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20).
Press on…
To hear Pastor Andrew’s Sunday message, go to the Facebook page of Lincoln Baptist Church, or link to the livestream from the church website.
thebrokenrunner 