Easter is a sad yet happy season. Sad, because our sins made it necessary for the Lord to suffer on the cross. And yet happy, because he was victorious and arose from the dead as he said he would. Praise God! He has risen and even now gives everlasting life to those who follow him. No longer do we need to offer sacrifices to God as is recorded in the Old Testament, because Christ made himself the supreme sacrifice for all mankind. He alone provides the way to God as is proclaimed through John 14:6. "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Jesus had a cross to bear for us, and he tells us that we must also bear a cross for him. Mark 8:34: "He calleth the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

What is the cross that you are carrying for him? What is the cross that I bear for him? We may say, 'My cross is my husband or wife', or that 'my cross is my job or my finances'. I could call Harv's snoring my cross, and Harv might call the number of times the phone rings in a day for me to be his cross...but while these things and others may be 'thorns in the flesh' as the apostle Paul expressed it, are they really the crosses we are to bear for Christ?

Let's consider some of the crosses we may carry today.

Example 1.
      A few years ago I saw a hitchhiker on the highway. His hair and beard were frassled and his clothes were disarrayed and soiled. Yet when I asked the Lord if I should give him a lift, my foot went on the brake pedal. "How are you," I asked as he got into the car. He responded, "Not very good. I just had another fight at the bar. It seems no matter how hard I try, I just keep messing up my life."

Here was another great opportunity for me to be a witness for Jesus Christ, my Lord. "I have a friend that can help you, if you'll let him," I told the man. Then I spoke to him about Jesus' love for him.

"Oh, I tried that Jesus stuff and still got in a fight today, and my wife still says she's thinking of leaving me." I asked him what he meant by 'that Jesus stuff'. "See this," he said as he pulled a small cross from his pocket. "I've been wearing this for days and it hasn't helped."

Now, that little cross in his pocket had no magic in it; no matter how much faith he put into it, it couldnm't help him. It was only a symbol. What he needed was to allow Christ to be the master of his life.

If his pocket cross was no benefit to him, why do so many of us wear a cross around our necks? Perhaps we wear it as a symbol that we have given our life to Christ. Some people wear crosses simply as a type of jewelry design. Sometimes when I find myself in a line or sitting by someone wearing a cross, I use it as an icebreaker and opportunity to share the gospel with that person. It has amazed me that so many people wearing crosses don't know that there is any symbolic connotation for the cross. Hopefully, they will be reminded of the Savior each time they see a cross thereafter.

Example 2.
      Have you seen the advertisements for mail order crosses which say that these crosses will bring you good luck? In other words, the advertiser wants us to look upon these crosses as good luck charms. God speaks to us about that through Deuteronomy 32:21. "They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols." Deut. 20:4-6, "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them: for I the Lord your God, am a jealous god..."

We are to look to God and to him only for our help. He is angered by our use of charms and horoscopes and psychics and ouija boards. We are to come to God and to pray to him through Jesus Christ only, not through his angels or saints or even the Virgin Mary. John 16:23, "I say whatsoever you ask the Father in my name, He will give to you."

Example 3.
      At one point in my life I felt that I should do everything I was asked to do for the cause of Christ. As a result, I was choir director, song leader, music chairman, Sunday School teacher, and church council representative. There was so much to do besides minding my household, that it became quite a cross to bear.

Then something happened that taught me to pray first for God's guidance before accepting or rejecting any task. Someone was scheduled for a music special one Sunday morning. She looked puzzled as the organist began to play the introduction, and I was horrified. I had not had time to explain to the organist about the two sets of music I had set on her bench. When the woman began to sing, she was singing something entirely different than what the organist was playing. It sounded absolutely awful! She was so embarrassed, that the woman didn't sing again in public for many years. And I was to blame for that pain.

I learned then to say 'no' to some positions in the church, so I could be more effective in what I felt God had called me to do. New joy and fulfillment became mine when I learned to lean on God totally for decisions and direction. Someone once told me that Christianity was a crutch. At that time I disagreed, but since then I have come to believe that it should be more than a crutch. God should be our whole wheelchair; we should rest in Him, letting him take us where he wants us to go. We should put our total trust in him for direction and support.

Death on the cross in Jesus' day denoted great guilt and shame. It was made as horribly painful as possible before the victim would finally die. He bore the pain, the guilt and the shame even though he was not guilty. He laid down his life for you and me; he paid the penalty for our sins. 1 Peter 2:25-26. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness: By his wounds you have been healed." Spiritual healing can be ours through Jesus' shed blood on the cross.

Christ bore a horrible cross for you and for me. From the scriptures it becomes clear that he calls upon his believers to be ready to sacrifice their selfish interests and to daily bear reproach or misunderstanding in their service tfor hi. Luke 9:23 "Then he said to them all: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 14:27 "And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."

Your own cross may be to be a witness to your cohorts or neighbors and loved ones. It may be persecution because you restrict your lifestyle to those things pleasing in the Lord's eyes. The cross you bear may cause physical or financial hardships, such as a missionary endures so that others may learn of salvation. Part of your cross may be to take the time needed to have family worship with your children.

To the degree that you are willing to give your life and talents to the Lord, he will mold you, strengthen, direct and use you for his kingdom's sake. There is peace and satisfaction in bearing our cross for Him.