My husband & I attended the Easter Musical Production put on by our church choir, entitled “HIS LIFE FOR MINE”. The idea was to give a musical portrayal of Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection. Along with visual media’ amazing soloists, and a strong choir, the message was made clear.
Now I have been thinking a lot lately about my legacy and the heritage my children will receive from me. What will people say about me when I am gone and even while I am still here? Am pointing them to the Cross? Is my Legacy worth leaving? In the midst of this my sister gave me a card that read: “Thank you…to someone who genuinely finds joy in the happiness of others…someone who’s soft at the edges and strong at the center…” This was a great gift of confirmation for me as this is how I want to be seen by others. But I still want my Legacy to have an eternal effect.
Yesterday morning as we stood in church at our Good Friday service, I sobbed through “How Great Thou Art”. This is not an uncommon thing for me…usually because I can see my Nana with her head back, eyes closed and the odd tear running down the side of her face as she would belt out this great hymn from the bottom of her soul. Which reminds me of the amazing heritage I have received…to be raised in a home where love was God’s brand, the truth was spoken, and the example was sure. To have a husband who loves and serves the Lord and children who have accepted His gift of salvation. To have grown up and been taught in a church whose foundation and roots are 75 years deep and rooted not in the accomplishments of its founders but in the very word of GOD. I am truly blessed!
That’s not to say that there have not been hard times. I have had some really lousy things happen to me and I have made some really lousy choices that brought really lousy consequences! But through it all my heritage has been the CROSS!
Now I have been thinking a lot lately about my legacy and the heritage my children will receive from me. What will people say about me when I am gone and even while I am still here? Am pointing them to the Cross? Is my Legacy worth leaving? In the midst of this my sister gave me a card that read: “Thank you…to someone who genuinely finds joy in the happiness of others…someone who’s soft at the edges and strong at the center…” This was a great gift of confirmation for me as this is how I want to be seen by others. But I still want my Legacy to have an eternal effect.
Yesterday morning as we stood in church at our Good Friday service, I sobbed through “How Great Thou Art”. This is not an uncommon thing for me…usually because I can see my Nana with her head back, eyes closed and the odd tear running down the side of her face as she would belt out this great hymn from the bottom of her soul. Which reminds me of the amazing heritage I have received…to be raised in a home where love was God’s brand, the truth was spoken, and the example was sure. To have a husband who loves and serves the Lord and children who have accepted His gift of salvation. To have grown up and been taught in a church whose foundation and roots are 75 years deep and rooted not in the accomplishments of its founders but in the very word of GOD. I am truly blessed!
That’s not to say that there have not been hard times. I have had some really lousy things happen to me and I have made some really lousy choices that brought really lousy consequences! But through it all my heritage has been the CROSS!
One very poignant moment for me during the musical last night was a picture that was shown during one of the songs. In my first glance I saw a crown of thorns…one of the most realistic I have ever seen. The thorns were not the short ones of a rose, but long and piercing and painful looking. The mental picture of this being driven into the head of Jesus is repulsive…but then I saw behind the crown….the cross. Again the mental pictures that the cross represent are not pretty, and make me sad because he chose to be nailed to that cross for me….He knew I would need a Saviour….so there is even some comfort in the picture of the cross…but it is bitter sweet. Then I saw it…I hadn’t eve noticed it yet because I was so focused on the thorns and the cross and the awful things that they represented…but faintly, in the background was the silhouette of the RISEN LORD!
And I thought…”isn’t that just like me?” He was there all along, but all I could see was the thorns…life can be like that…we are so focused on the thorns that snag us and the crosses we must bear that we forget…and can’t even see the Saviour, His arms stretched out victoriously and waiting…waiting for me and for you to allow Him to intercede for us, to fight for us and to carry us. He has already won the battle, we know the end of the book and we win! Yet we still focus on the thorns and ugliness of this world.
UNLESS…we choose differently... What will YOU choose today? To see the thorns or your loving Saviour?
I choose JESUS!
~cb
By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the One you killed on a cross, the One God raised from the dead, by means of his name this man stands before you healthy and whole. Jesus is 'the stone you masons threw out, which is now the cornerstone.' Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one."
1 comment:
Love it, love it, love it! So beautifully said. My own heart has been stirred and stilled with thoughts of the true meaning of what we celebrate. I saw Christmas in a different light this year, and I have a feeling I will be seeing Easter in a different light as well. Love you!
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