July 16, 2019

July 16

Running with Jesus

Luke 23:33a  And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him

     In Isaiah 53:5 we read this “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his wounds we are healed.

     The greatest sickness man has ever had is sin.  You see sin brought forth death and would lead to eternal separation from God and eternity in hell, the pit prepared for Satan and his demons. 

     After Adam and Eve sinned every man born would be born with this sin, cancer of the heart.  There would be only one cure and that would be a sinless man, Jesus Christ, coming to die to heal us.

     My question today is have you met and received the remedy. There is a remedy for every sin sick soul and it took place the day Jesus was nailed to an old rugged cross to be sacrificed for the sin of the world. It was prophesied hundreds of years before it took place and right here on the pages of Dr. Luke penned the Words for all to read, “They nailed Him to the cross.”  These six words would be enough to cover the sin of the world.  Just reading six words and living in our society will not do justice to all the excruciating pain Jesus would suffer for us.  We cannot even begin to visualize and understand as those who observe crucifixion on a daily basis.  I just read a few commentaries on how one dies from this type of torture and would make you cringe to think about it.  We need to think about it and read all the details then maybe it would make a difference in how we live our lives.

     The truth is as Christians we forget we are to die to self daily and live for Him.  We are the most selfish society living in the body of Christ.  We are conditioned from the day we are born to yell and scream I want my way.  Even commercials speak to this “It’s my money I want it now!”  The truth is we give so little to the one who was sinless, selfless man ever born  and willingly allowed himself to be placed on a cross to give us a love relationship to redeem us.  Shame on us!

Father, as we gaze at the old rugged cross, place an image on our mind that cannot be erased that we might remember and remind us nothing we ever give up for You can be compared to being nailed to a cross suffering in agony for hours struggling to hold Your aching body up and suffocating.  Most of all help us remember You died from a broken heart and took all our sins upon Youself that we might have heaven and eternity with God the Father. Let us never forget Calvary on our worst day, because it is nothing compared to Your suffering.

Tomorrow: Crucified between to thieves, see you there!

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015