When all that matters in your life... is Him.
Was very moved this morning by the 3rd and 4th verse of the hymn "Beneath the cross of Jesus". Here it goes:
Upon that cross of Jesus,
Mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of One
Who suffered there for me;
And from my smitten heart, with tears,
Two wonders I confess-
The wonders of His glorious love,
And my unworthiness.
I take, O cross, thy shadow
For my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine
Than the sunshine of His face;
Content to let the world go by,
To know no gain nor loss,
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory all the cross!
Was musing about life with a friend just tonight, talking about how life is fleeting and we're already legally adults. So it stands, what a cliche. We don't feel any older, we just feel more responsibility-laden. But I went through in my mind the things that were dear to me in this life. From friends, food, relationships, family, material possessions, art, academic success, fame, mammon, knowledge, wisdom. Vanity of vanities, I can't take my degree with me to the grave. I don't even think that friendships would give me enough utility to wager all for a life in servitude to keeping friendships. Material possessions, art, things that I can enjoy for a moment, and then complete forget. Its like a profound sense of emotional connection which is gone in a split-second. Things that won't fill me. Things that can never fill me. Even relationships, these elusive things we fight and crave for just to realize that they are only secondary to what really matters in the long run.
Then my mind came to who Jesus was. Who is Jesus to you- what has He done for you, someone asked a group of us during a study of Philippians on Sunday. A basic question, but a very pertinent one, he commented. He asked all of us to think about what Jesus Christ has done for us. At first, the textbook answer came to all our ears through one of the group members: "He died on the cross for our sins." My friend kept probing, Is that all? Slowly, one by one, the answers grew lengthier and more personal- He suffered for us. He humbled Himself for us by being born in a stable, His bed was an animal's feeding trough. He went through persecutions for us. There was an instance whereby somebody slapped Him while He was blindfolded, and others mocked Him.
But not only did He suffer cruelties for your sake, my friend continued. His cleansing blood saved us. He lives today, He was raised from the dead, and He has forgiven us. He intercedes for us today, and He is coming for us some day as King. At the end of it all, we were a little overwhelmed. We knew the textbook answers in our head every day, but that day, the message hit home for me. I wanted to add, He gave up everything for us.
It's not very often that I think about what Christ has done for me. I think that it is an old truth, something that I can leave behind to sing of and ponder about during Easter and Holy communion, and think about when I share Christ. But yesterday was simply mind-blowing. Christ has done much for us, a debt we cannot repay. If only I thought about Him more, followed Him fully, loved Him more.
A crown of thorns He wore for us, that we may one day wear crowns of glory.
I realized this yesterday- that when we turn our eyes upon Jesus, nothing else in the world matters. Absolutely nothing. When we look at the riches we have in Him, we remember our poverty in our humanness, and God becomes our everything. Our all in all. It's not an abstract concept, but a reality to those willing to give up all to follow Jesus. Tough it may be, a road fraught with potholes and a narrow way with obstacles, but if God is our all, we will not let the small frustrations and trials imprison us. We will be liberated, flying free, as God works in and through us.
How I wish to cherish this truth in my heart for the whole of my earthly while...