“I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
15 My mouth[a] is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce[b] my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me. ” Psalm 22:14-17 NIV
Do you wear a cross necklace? Or earrings? Do you own a t-shirt with a cross. Or maybe you decorate your home with them. Have you ever thought this custom odd?
The prophesy above from the book of Psalms describes someone (Jesus) hanging from a cross. Bones out of joint. Heart weak and useless. Mouth a kind of dry we can’t even comprehend. Spikes empaling the hands and feet with agony on display for gawkers to see. Death and torture happened on crosses. And yet we display them with respect. Why would we clean up such an ugly thing for the world to see?
Why the Cross?
Because without the cross, we are ugly things. And our clean up could not happen without the blood Jesus shed on the cross. We are terrible sinners – every last one of us. But Jesus. He, who had never sinned, took on the death punishment for us so that we can be in relationship with God forever. There is nothing more beautiful in all the world.
If you have questions about how Christ’s death brings us life with Him or how to accept this gift, please reach out to me by comment or send me a personal email at lauren@laurensparks.net. There is nothing I would rather talk about. The cross is beautiful because of Jesus.
And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!
I’m thinking about friendship right now as I work on a post for next week and found Jennifer’s post on the art of friendship to be very interesting.
The Link Up
1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.
2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.
3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).
We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.
MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
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LAUREN SPARKS
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LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
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TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
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Now Let’s Link Up!
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Jesus work on the cross changed history forever, how wonderful that we can look forward to spending eternity with Him through that glorious work Lauren.
Thank you for the feature. 🙂
Blessings, Jennifer
My pleasure, Jennifer.
I do wear a Cross and have worn one every day for more than 40 years. I never want to forget all that Jesus had done for me.
Amen, Joanne.