Monumental Moments

Monumental moments. We've all had them, moments that change your life in ways we often cannot fathom. Monumental moments can be either positive or negative and are oftentimes both. These moments often fall into our path, often uninvited, and leave their imprints on the course of our lives. Let me share a monumental moment in my life. It was my senior year of high school. Unlike most, I was dreading the day when I would part from familarity and move onto bigger things. I was comfortable. If you do not know me, then you would not know that comfort happens to be a stumbling block in my life. Comfort breeds complacency, and I am no exception. However, that year had presented a Bible class that had forever marked me. I distinctly remember our Bible teacher acting out the crucifixion of Christ. His details were vivid and often grotesque, details I am still grateful for. He reminded us of the glass attached to the whip and how with each crack of the whip, chunks of flesh were taken with the whip's removal. Bone and muscle showing, Christ was quickly looking less and less human. This descriptive story telling went on for a while. Now, this was not actually my point. My point with that was to demonstrate the power of that Bible class. However, it wasn't until one class period that forever changed my life. I remember coming in late. Why? I'm not sure. I think it may have been something to do with yearbook, but I'm so glad I came to class instead of skipping. That day there were two two-by-fours nailed together in the shape of a cross. Our teacher had a hammer, nail, and a stack of papers. We were to right our biggest sin struggle on the sheet, and then one-by-one we nailed our sin to the cross. We often use examples like this, but something about literally nailing your sin to the cross changes you. Sin becomes more serious, more painful, and to be honest the sound of the hammer striking the nail is never a sound you'll grow used to. While this in itself was monumental, it was the actual act of nailing it to the cross that brings me to this blog post. For some reason, I thought I would gently nail it in, as if the less I hit it the less pain my sin would cause. I remember my teacher having to take the hammer and POUND it into the cross. And just like that it was gone. Of course, I could still see it, it had in no way disappeared, but my attempt to minimize nailing my sin to the cross was pointless. The cross is what it is. We can attempt to minimize it, but we never will. The truth is the cross hurts, its hard, and you'll get a few splinters carrying it with you. Can I challenge you to something? If you have to set down the cross to participate in something, it isn't worth participating in. If you can't do those activities with a cross on your back then it is something you shouldn't do. If that guy asks you to put down the cross so you can sleep with him, the cross doesn't fit in the bed. Keep the cross, nix the boy. I want to challenge you and myself to remember that the cross doesn't fit in all activities. Just because you gently attempt to nail your sin, doesn't make it hurt any less. The cross is fun, the cross is loving, the cross is gentle, but the cross is also monumental. Keep the cross and your moments will be more worthwhile. Peace & Blessings