"Cross training"

It was to this that God called you, for Christ himself suffered for you and left you an example, so that you would follow in his steps.

He committed no sin, and no one ever heard a lie come from his lips.

When he was insulted, he did not answer back with an insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but placed his hopes in God, the righteous Judge.

Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by his wounds that you have been healed.

You were like sheep that had lost their way, but now you have been brought back to follow the Shepherd and Keeper of your souls.

1 Peter 2:21-25

Our cross maybe a job that forces us to work too much for little pay; our cross maybe the loss of a job. Our cross maybe a mom who nags us all the time to clean our room; our cross maybe enduring the pain of a parent’s passing. Our cross maybe the intermittent bouts of loneliness; our cross maybe the ever-present need to serve and please other people. Whatever our cross is, Jesus has shown us the most perfect example of how to bear it, with the correct spirit and perspective, that of love, meekness, obedience, faith.

So, this Easter and beyond, we continue our daily “cross training.” No, we don’t have to find two huge pieces of lumber, set them at right angles to each other, and lug it up and down and through rocky rustic paths. What we have to do is pray- for the vision to see our daily t-i-n-y crosses, for the resolve to carry these crosses, and for the ever increasing love to bear these amidst the temptation to let go and give up.

We carry our cross not only in excited anticipation of the reward in store for us in heaven, but more importantly to show our love and gratitude to the Father who sent His Son to save us and redeem us and claim us again as His own.

For now and always, we rejoice in the fact that

The Lord Is Risen! Alleluia!