Cling To The Cross

A few days ago I was summoned to the hospital to be with a family whose loved one was passing away.  When I arrived her husband was in the room along with other family members. The man’s wife was in her early fifties and had suffered an aneurism leaving her brain dead.  The family was signing papers granting permission for her to be an organ donor, which would result in life being given to others. I noticed he was clutching a cross.  When going to his room later I watched as he continued this all familiar ritual. I said to him, “That’s a mighty nice cross you have there.”  Overwhelmed with grief, he replied, “I don’t even know who gave it to me.” That did not matter, what mattered was that he held onto it. Holding this powerful object gave him the strength to endure his pain. His behavior reminds me of Paul’s in Galatians 6:14. “As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died.” In essence the apostle is declaring that all the pain, opposition, and enticement that come against the child of God can be dealt with by Jesus’ unprecedented gift to the church.  What is that greatest gift—the cross. Paul like the grieving husband was saying, “I just can’t turn it loose. While it appears that I’m holding it, in reality it’s holding me.”  Herein the Christian is introduced to a great revelation; He was hung on the cross that we might hang onto the cross. No matter what we encounter whether it is life or death, tribulation or persecution, big or small,  temporal or eternal cling to the cross. During tough times it is our greatest asset.