Bare - April 11, 2015

1 Peter 2:24     "He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed."

Isaiah 53:4     Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.

Romans 6:13     Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

1 Corinthians 15:3     For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

Have you ever given thought to the fact that our Savior’s crown of thorns represents every worry and issue that rests on our minds? The nails in His hands represent every evil that you have allowed your hands to do? The nail in His feet represents every vile place you have asked Him to walk and stay even if it brought Him displeasure or discomfort?

The sweat and the blood that poured down His tortured body were there because of us. The bruises and scrapes from the weight of the cross were because of us. The brutal assault and the attempted humiliation were because of us….and He endured it all.

 He continued to plead our case as people watched Him being stripped, being beaten, being tormented and dying – naked and not ashamed.

Our hurts and slights are nothing in comparison, not to minimize your pain but to put your situation in perspective. If you continue to preach, pray and praise through your situation someone might be able to relate to the Christ through your actions.

The story, when told, always mentions the casting lots for His clothes but most depiction of the crucifixion almost always shows the Christ in a loincloth…why do you think that is? Have we become so comfortable in our day to day that we can flaunt our successes that we are now so preconditioned to hide our failures…the very lessons that brought us to the success? Is the “modern day” church hiding behind a loincloth? Do we hide behind the loincloth believing we are too busy for even God?!