THE OLD RUGGED CROSS
As I have just celebrated another birthday, another year
passed. And as my senior years progress
my mind goes back to the years past and wonder where they have gone. I have had so many blessings in my life and
yes, there have been struggles along the way, pain and sorrow.
But the Lord has been so good to me, sending me a
wonderful husband, who loves and cherishes me daily, and my beautiful daughters
and their love and now five grandchildren and even one great grandson. And how thankful I am for my Christian
brothers and sisters in the Lord, as we uphold one another in prayer. And like the Word says, “when one suffers we
all suffer.”
And then there are my precious sisters, who I love and
cherish and so many memories of our childhood and later years. I am so thankful for my precious mother, now
with Jesus, who taught me about Jesus, giving me back to the Lord at two weeks
of age, and then marrying into a Christian family, with a godly husband. I am truly blessed!
But over my life down through the years, even in those
times when I strayed, was the shadow of the cross. And the tears come as I think of how the Lord
has walked with me through tough times, because He has been there and He knows
our pain. It is all because of the cross
of Calvary.
That “Old Rugged Cross” points back in time to the
promises of coming redemption, to His death on the cross, fulfilling those
prophecies and then on into the future, pointing to a glorious future with Him
for eternity. I have tears just singing
this song or reading the words, they mean so much to me. And I remember so well hearing this often as
a child. I wish we would sing it more
often to remember that it is all about the cross and our salvation and the
sacrifice of our Precious Lord.
It is Easter time once again, the world is seeking
bunnies, eggs, new clothes and the like, but it is time we get our mind off
those things for a moment and go back to the cross, “The Old Rugged Cross.”
THE OLD RUGGED CROSS
On a hill far away stood an old rugged
cross,
The emblem of suff’ring and shame;
And I love that old cross where the Dearest
and Best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
Refrain:
So I’ll
cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my
trophies at last I lay down;
I will
cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange
it someday for a crown.
Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by
the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory
above
To bear it to dark Calvary.
In that old rugged cross, stained with
blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered
and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.
To the old rugged cross I will ever be
true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me someday to my home far
away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.
(George
Bennard-1913)
In our latest Bible Study, the ladies and I are studying
the scenes of our Lord leading up to the cross, and our minds are trying to
comprehend what Jesus was going through as He sat with His disciples at the
Last Supper and then His agony in the garden, knowing what was ahead. He took the Cup of Redemption at that supper
and passed it around but did not partake as He would take that cup and drink of
it in the garden. He asked His Father to
take that cup away from Him if possible, but He would drink of it for you and
for me. He knew the agony that was ahead
on the cross, but He bore that agony for this world of lost sinners. We cannot comprehend the agony He must have
gone through and knowing exactly what they would do to Him, but oh, He loved us
so much!
When I think of the cross, I also think of the crosses we
bear each day. Remember what Jesus said
in Luke 9:23: “And he said to them all, “If
any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,
and follow me.” What is the cross you are bearing today? Is it a body filled with pain, a troubled
marriage, unsaved children, financial worries.
Some of us senior adults have lost our hearing or part of it, our bodies
are stiff with pain and we have faced illness and loss of strength.
But someday, after we have walked with Jesus, and daily
carried our “crosses” to the Lord, whatever they may be, we will lay those
down, after all the years of clinging to that “Old Cross.” And He promises His faithful ones a Crown of
Life! (James 1:12). And I look forward
to that day, a day of joy, when old things pass away and our new life begins
forever with Jesus.
So at this Easter season, look to the Cross. Yes, it was an emblem of shame and suffering,
but our Lord bore it all for you and for me.
And remember it was Friday, but Sunday was coming, His glorious resurrection! So celebrate “Resurrection Sunday” with joy
in your heart and Praise His Wonderful Name for the cross of redemption and our
salvation.
In the Name of Jesus,
Pastor Sharon
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