“And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Phil. 2:8
At 91, my friend Lou, still weeps over his salvation experience. He’d been raised in the ghetto, never darkening a church door. The name Jesus – a profanity, not a person. Once, during a game of “hide and seek” seven year old Lou ran and hid in a community center. At the front of a stage stood children singing, “Jesus Loves Me”. Unsure of the lyrics or their meaning, the lad ran out the center, tears streaming down his face. Who was this Jesus the kids were singing about? Frightened and unsure, he tried to get the song out of his mind. Fast forward to age fourteen. Lou was invited to Sunday school by some buddies. Each week before class everyone sang, “The Old Rugged Cross”. Once again Lou was clueless to the song and its meaning. By the third week, Lou had an epiphany. The Jesus song he’d heard as a youngster raced through his mind. He put the songs together, realizing the Man who loved, was also nailed to a cross – for sinners. Lou realized his depiction in the song as one of the sinners Christ died for. His life was forever changed that day. He confessed his sins and received the love of God. The aged man relayed how the cross still makes him weep.
I gaze at the cross atop my church, thankful for its presence. Often I forget the pain which took place on the cross. The nails, the blood, my Savior… all for sin, mine included.
My sins, though many, are often confessed in a hurried manner. Rarely do I stop and ponder the ugliness of my sin, serving only to magnify the beauty of the cross. Like my friend Lou, I desire the cross to bring me to my knees. Not as a gesture of guilt, just a sobering reminder of how Jesus gave His life as a ransom for me.
I pray the cross of Christ humbles me, not only at Easter but every day.