Looking For Crosses

I have four of them engraved on my tungsten wedding band equidistant apart.  Any way I turn my ring, I see a cross. Hanging on the walls of our house I see a metal wall cross and a cross painting that my wife's friend painted for her. Hanging on for dear life to a refrigerator magnet is a drawing of a multicolored cross lying on pebbled stones that my daughter freehanded. When I'm driving on 75 through Richardson I see it atop First Baptist's steeple. In my wife's car, it hangs from the rear view mirror.

However, occasionally, I'll notice a cross by happenstance. I'll see it on the compass of my old watch where the cardinal points cross each other. In our bedroom, we have a clock that has four hands that at just the right time, create a cross. I'll get a screwdriver only to discover I have the wrong size, grab another one and lay it across the first, forming a cross. My workout mat with the weights to the side form a cross. The cross is everywhere, if I would just look for it!

Read how Malcolm Muggeridge began looking for crosses as told by John Stott in his book, 'The Cross of Christ': "I would catch a glimpse of a cross- not necessarily a crucifix; maybe two pieces of wood accidentally nailed together, on a telegraph pole, for instance- and suddenly my heart would stand still. ... It was, I know, an obsessive interest... I might fasten bits of wood together myself, or doodle it.... I should have worn it over my heart; carried it, a precious standard, never to be wrested out of my hands; even though I fell, still born aloft."

The cross is all around you, are you looking for it? When you see it, does your heart stand still? Do you wear it over your heart? Do you treasure it so much so that if a day went by without seeing a cross, it would bother you? What does the cross mean to you? It should remind you and me of what Christ did for us as Paul explained in Colossians 2:13-14 (NLT):

"You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross."

Halleluiah! The cross is central to our Christian faith. Christ took a symbol of torture and transformed it into a symbol of hope. This hope is a steadfast assurance for all who believe in Jesus. If you place your trust in Christ, He will take you dead in your sins and transform you into a new creation!