2008-08-14 10:08:00
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Last night we visited with Dave Hertle, a chaplain to the truck drivers as well as the employees at a large truck stop here in Omaha. Dave is a former truck driver and can easily connect as he shares his faith in Christ. I watched him in action as visitors came into the chapel and as he walked through the truck stop greeting many by name. He joined us for dinner and shared his burden for the lost souls of those he encounters in his work for the Lord.
The chapel is a converted truck trailer tastefully appointed to be a small sanctuary. Dave has various items of conversational interest and showed us the chain link cross a friend had given to him. The man who made it used heavy chain because the heavy chains of bondage to sin were broken at the cross. He purposefully left it rusty and rugged because Christ died on an "old rugged cross."
The apostle Paul bluntly says, "the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing." Indeed to so many the message of the cross is foolishness. It's mocked and ridiculed. Our Savior is cursed and blasphemed.
"But to us who are being saved it is the power of God." We rejoice in the cross, which is a demonstration of the love, wisdom and power of God! Its power continues to break the heavy chains of sin and bondage.
I thank God that Christ's sacrifice on the cross is final and absolutely adequate to provide forgiveness for sins. Christ died once for all on Calvary's Cross to redeem fallen mankind. No better plan is needed and the mission of the faithful church and faithful Christian is to steadfastly proclaim the message of the cross.
The apostle Paul said, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14). Today join me in proclaiming, "I love that old cross."
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross,
Where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
Where my trophies at last I lay down.
I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it someday for a crown.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Jesus, we consider everything that You went through was for our benefit. Your tender response to betrayal and cruelty serves as an example to us when we are treated unjustly. Your obedience in life and especially Your death on the cross shows us how to remain steadfast in the face of tremendous suffering. You embodied the very teaching You spoke to Your followers as You carried out the will of the Father no matter the cost. Each wound that tore Your flesh brought us spiritual and physical healing. You were numbered with the transgressors so that we could be numbered with the saints. Because Your death was redemptive in power, the dark cross of Calvary has a wondrous attraction where we witness Your divine sacrifice on our own personal behalf. What wondrous, amazing love; it demands my soul, my life, my all. Amen.
Tags: The Old Rugged Cross
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