Lately, I have been contemplating the cross and what it means to me.  As Christians, we look upon this symbol so much, I wonder if we sometimes become desensitized to it's true significance and purpose.

For those who may be reading this and may not have a sound understanding of who Jesus Christ is, I encourage you to pick up a bible and find a local church that will help you in your discovery of God.   With that said, I also want to point out that the opinions expressed here are merely my own flow of thoughts and self-evaluations.  I do not intend this to be an expression of all Christians.

When it comes to the Cross, I have been feeling as if it has been a distraction as of late.  I know that does not sound right and may even be offensive to some, but let me get to my point and maybe you'll understand where I am coming from. 

In Hebrews 12:1-2 it states;

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

In this passage, our Faith is compared with a race...a race in which the finish line is Jesus Christ.

So, how does the cross act as an obstacle to my race?

When we decide to enter into a race, there are some pretty basic guidelines that apply to all races - regardless of the format.  You have a defined start, the running of the race, and a defined end. 

When it comes to Christianity, the Cross is where we find Christ and are reconciled with God.  It is at this brutal, yet beautiful, place that we receive forgiveness for our sins and are allowed to move forward with our new lives in Christ.  It is in this manner that we each begin our individual races.

The second part of the race is where you actually run the race.  If we look back at Hebrews 12, it tells us to lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

When you decide to enter a race...or even if you are just going for a jog...you make sure to carry only what you need.  This may only be a pair of running shoes, running clothes, water bottle, and an i-pod.  The point is, you don't burden yourself with your briefcase from work, your bills from home, etc...  You only bring what you need.  In the example of our walk with God, the "weight, and sin which clings so closely" is left at the foot of the cross.

If we are to run the race, we must leave the cross (along with our sins) behind.  It is only by doing so that we are then capable of running the course set before us.  I believe that many Christians are good at laying down our Sins...however, when it comes time to "run the race" we either want to continuously return back to the cross...in which case we are staying at the starting line...or we want to lift up the cross and carry it (along with the sins we placed upon it) and try to continue along in our race...in which case we are going to tire out and collapse under the burden and never make it to the finish.

When I say to "leave the cross behind", I am referring to the broken state that we find ourselves in when we first embrace the cross.  It is this state of grieving that I am referring to and not the sacrifice of which occurred upon the cross.  It is at the cross that we die to ourselves and gain a new life in Christ.  As in any other death, there is a healthy grieving period that must occur before moving on.  It is only when one cannot let go of the grieving process that we stagnate and even harm ourselves because we cannot let go.  Am I saying that once you have moved past the grieving we forget the person who passed on?  No, of course not.  But I am saying that you move on with your life with a healthy memory of the one who died.

So, if we are to run a race, what is it we are running towards?  If it is Jesus, why would I not return to the cross?

The answer is that we are running towards Jesus.  However, he is no longer on the cross.  Instead, he is at the finish line, waiting for us at the right hand of the Father.

It is in this way that I believe the cross has become an obstacle in my race.  When I needed to be saved, Jesus was on the cross preparing me for the start of the race.  However, now that I have accepted Christ, he has gone to the finish line and is awaiting my arrival.  Instead, I keep returning to the starting line and wondering why I am not finding the prize there.

Who receives a prize for starting a race in which you decide to stay at the beginning for?

That does not mean that I think the cross is something that should be ignored.  In fact, what I have been discovering is that various areas in my life are at different stages in the race.  For those parts of my life I have been able to fully lay down, I am running ahead and leaving the cross behind.  However, God is constantly working within me and I find conviction in those areas which I have not yet pinned to the cross.  Those areas are still at the beginning and need to be amputated from my spirit in the way that only God can do.

With that said, I wanted to try and create a picture which illustrated Jesus' victory over the cross.  While it is true that the cross was made of wood in a physical sense.  What some people may not understand is that in the spiritual sense, Jesus was crucified upon a cross made of our sins.  It was through his sacrifice upon those sins that we received forgiveness.  It is this "Victory" over sin that I wanted to capture on paper.

I hope you like it and God Bless.

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