Abide

Speaking of the Cross in a daily devotional from a couple of days ago, Oswald Chambers writes, "It is the gate through which any and every individual can enter into oneness with God.  But it is not a gate we pass right through; it is one where we abide in the life that is found there.  The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ.  

Wow.  What a profound concept.  That has been ringing around the corners of my mind on and off.  It seems to land then take flight again when I want it to stay and take root.  It is such a deep, and I believe eventually, illuminating statement that I just want to focus on it and make it my own.  Life in the Cross.  Abiding where love, sacrifice, mercy, and justice met.  And living out of that.  How?  How do I make it mine, how do I walk it out?  The Cross is the place where I was brought back into rightness, into relationship with my Creator.   So the Cross is a place of relationship.  Of restoration. And this is where the Lord is leading my thinking.  The spark of an idea from Mr. Chamber's devotional is now growing through the work of the Holy Spirit.  This little God visit in the form of a couple of sentences is one of those heart shaking moments that shift the paradigm of our way of walking out our beliefs.  

Am I living in the place of the Cross?  Not as much as I would like that's for sure.  Selfishness, busyness, me-ness kind of get in the way.   I think what happens more often than not is the remembrance of the Cross gets shifted to the back of our thinking as the cares of this life crowd it out. I believe it will take a lifetime of practice to get to the place where living out of Christ's love and sacrifice is as necessary and as natural as breathing.  Life is busy.  Good things,  important things, necessary things, people things, job things, family things.....it's what we do.  I am still working on reconciling these two worlds....the flesh and bone world I walk in and the world of my redemption, the Cross.  How do they fit together?  How do I live in one while living for the other?  

I guess I may be leaving you guys with more questions than answers.  I think that's okay.  Abiding in the Cross of Christ, the place of sacrifice, reconciliation and love is, like I said, going to take a lifetime of practice and figuring out.  At least for me.  But if I can get you thinking in that direction, like Oswald Chambers did me, then that is enough for today. 

I pray now, that the Holy Spirit will continue to work this concept out in my life and in yours.  Lord, let us be rooted and grounded in Your Cross.  

Pray!