The Cruciform Life
Much of life comes to us shaped like a cross. That’s the way it came to Jesus. In our denial we can reject its appearance or we can take it up. A death, diagnosis, or divorce can take us to a place of dying; a loss of job, property, or position can become emotional and spiritual brokenness. There is a deeper dying that takes place in all of this. With our trust in Messiah, this cruciform life enables us to discover a real companionship with Him that is forging intimacy at depths which cannot otherwise be known.
Oh my soul, it is so hard to embrace the cross. May I do so without making “dying on the cross” some kind of empty slogan. May I learn to welcome the cross when it meets me at some unexpected bend in the road; grant me grace to embrace these circumstances that surprise me as opportunities for identifying with my Lord in a higher knowing and a deeper maturity. Amen!
