Lenten devotionals from our DS's wife Robbie Craker

Day #2

Did you know that the earliest Christians probably didn’t use the cross as a symbol? They used the Ichthys, or the fish symbol. The simple fish outline had Greek letters which can be read as an acrostic: Jesus Christ God’s Son Savior.

Some think that the cross was too painful for the earliest Christians to use as a symbol, since it was a reminder of the painful, humiliating death of Jesus. However, by the 2^nd century it was being used.

Then in the 4^th century under Constantine the Chi-Rho monogram was adopted. These are the first two letters of the word Christ in Greek.

However, today the cross is central in most Christian Churches. You see it everywhere – on the outside of churches, in the sanctuary, worn around the neck or in the ear, tattooed in various forms on the arms of athletes, on the arm band of medics in war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan, hanging on the walls of a designer room in a magazine dedicated to home décor. Most often these are beautiful crosses, bearing little resemblance to the Cross of Christ.

Crucifixion – death on a cross – was used for the commonest, vilest criminals in the days Jesus walked the earth. Many of the pictures we hold in our hearts and minds, placed there by artists’ renditions, are often glamorized and inaccurate. Does this matter? Only if we lose sight of the true horror our Savior endured for us.

When I was considering this series of devotions I researched the word “cross” in the New Testament. In only nine instances it’s used in the Gospels and only 12 more times in the rest of the New Testament – and it’s often used in relation to the cross we must carry to follow Christ. I don’t think the cross Jesus is asking us to carry is a beautiful gold or silver ornament around our neck. I don’t know what your cross is – sometimes I’m not even sure what my cross is. Perhaps it changes from time to time.

Today, let’s consider the scripture from Matthew 10:37-39:

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

--Father, we want to take up our cross and follow your Son. Please open the eyes of our hearts and minds to see what we need to nail to that cross. We believe we will find our true and fulfilling lives when we do that – we know we can trust You. –Amen--