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The Cross-Bearer

And so you see the cross-bearer as
He struggles along the way.
He seems tired and weather worn,
A stranger to this land.
“How far are you going?”
“All the way!”
is the reply.
“But don’t you feel like a fool
With that cross? — Why we drive nice cars and
Wear fine clothes!”
“My Lord carried the cross
He asked his followers to, also” –
“It’s not God’s Kingdom
That is foolish — it’s man’s Kingdom ‘
Why the cross – ?
Better to carry golf clubs, baseball bat,
Tennis rackets, surf boards, and etc !”
“oh we glory in the cross
for there our Lord Jesus died for our sins —
and paid with His blood
our eternal debt.
With sport — there is
Pride, honor, applause, fame
And perhaps wealth ‘
But — the cross-bearer
Is viewed with scorn, shame,
Ridicule’ and laughter’
Yet this cannot detour the journey’¦
“Well, where do you go with that?”
“unto all the world?”
“And where do you walk?”
“everywhere”
“What kind of weather?”
“all kinds
all the time!”
“But what about pleasure? Don’t you ever have fun?”
“My pleasure is the smile of
God, my joy is hearing
A sinner pray, my thrill is
Lifting up the fallen
I love to love”
“What do you get out of this?”
“Nothing”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing”!
You do not bear the cross to gain
Our Lord Jesus whom the
Cross-bearer follows said
If you save your life you lose it
Our motive is to give
To die with Christ
We count it all as loss
We wash feet!”
“Surely there must be a better and easier way!”
“Oh yes, there is another way
its got a broad gate and wide
is the way and many
there be that go in
but the end is eternal death in hell,
but Christ has called us to the
straight gate and narrow way’¦
“But someone might rob or kill you
out in the highways and hedges!”
“For me to live is Christ
and to die is gain’
to be absent from the body
is to be present with the Lord”
“You do need money!”
“Take no thought about tomorrow
what you shall wear, eat’¦
consider the lilies of the field
they sow nor neither do they reap
yet Solomon and all his glory
is not arrayed as one of them
this our Lord spoke to us.”
“I’m interested; could I come along for a while and
try out your cross and walk along and see if I like it?”
“No”
“Jesus said no man who puts his hand on the plow
and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God
You must first sell everything
Give it to the poor
And deny yourself
Take up your cross and follow Jesus’¦
There is no test or trial.
You must take the leap
There is no turning back
Even in the face of shame,
Terror or death
There is only one way for the cross-bearer –
Following Jesus!

Cross
In this world, there is one symbol
It may vary in size,
It may vary in color,
It may vary in monetary worth,
But that symbol is that of
Hope,
Good news,
Friendship,
Peace and justice,
It represents salvation,
Healing,
Forgiveness,
And reconciliation’¦
It reaches to all races,
Languages,
Religions,
And social systems
It offers new life to the murderer
The rapist
The thief
The hater
The unkind
The greedy
Though so holy,
It welcomes the worst of the
Human heart’¦!
What morality condemns and judges;
It will forgive and cleanse
In the symbol of suffering
Pain, injustice
Sacrifice and death
There is now,
Hope, life and joy!
It seeks to lift the oppressed,
To free the bound,
To overcome injustice,
To eliminate discrimination
To give beauty for ashes
To give joy instead of mourning
To replace despair with hope
The symbol, the cross!
The reason, the man,
Jesus!
The purpose: atonement, redemption,
And restoration.
At the cross, the best of God
Met the worst of man
And
Peace was made
“for there is only one name,
given among men, whereby we
must be saved, the Man Jesus!”

Pilgrim followers of Jesus, Arthur and Denise Blessitt, Luke 18:1