Lenten Devotional Day Fifteen
For the last seven days, I have written about the deadly sins. I find it to be a useful way to reflect on where I need to confess and reevaluate, where I need to specifically ask God to help me. We could do the same kind of thing going through the Ten Commandments or the Beatitudes, and I plan to do so beginning on Monday, but for today and tomorrow, I want to ponder the Cross.
Imagine yourself as a young professional living beyond your means. If an elderly neighbor decided to pay all your debts — your various maxed out credit cards and the car payment you couldn’t afford —would you count the cost? Would you likely just say thanks for ALL of that? Or, would you calculate on paper, or at the very least in your head, exactly what it took for the neighbor to give you such an incredible, unmerited gift?
Do you believe that Jesus paid for all your sins? The gratefully redeemed should not be satisfied with a sweeping “Thank you” either. Admittedly, no matter how long we spent writing it out on paper or making a mental list, we can never come close to appreciating the cost Jesus paid. However, making no attempt means we take the Cross for granted, we lose an opportunity to grow closer to Jesus, and we end up loving Him less (“Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Luke 7:47).
Maybe you too would be blessed by meditating on the words of this beautiful song, by Fannie Crosby, the second verse in particular.
Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and Mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Sheds its beams around me.In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;
From the cross my ransomed soul
Nothing then shall sever
Do you believe your soul was ransomed? That love and mercy found you? That God shines His light on you? How can we not praise Him for promising then that nothing shall ever separate us from His Love? (Romans 8:39)
Tim Keller’s sermon “The Meaning of Death” talked about how many people find the cross offensive. Do you? In that sermon, Keller also said that “All life-changing love is substitutionary atonement.” How does this statement relate to forgiveness?
What has most helped you grow in understanding the cost of your ransom?