I'm standing in the garden. He's bent double on his knees and from a distance I can see sweat dripping off his forehead as I hear the faintest cry. He gets up and leaves and from a distance I see him arrested. I walk over to where he was and I stand over the drops of sweat that have fallen to the ground. I bend closer and realize it's not sweat; it's blood.
I can't stop thinking about the garden.
I'm standing in a police square. He's bound, being shouted at and all I can hear are the loud cracks of a whip and the tearing of flesh. I don't understand what is going on.
I'm standing on a hill and men are nailing that man to a cross. As the hammer falls I turn my eyes away and realize I am bound in chains firmly rooted deeply in the ground and can't get up. It's as if my arms and legs are buried in the ground and all I can move is my head. When I look up they've hoisted a cross with him nailed to it; as it slams into place he finds his breath, looks up, and locks his eyes on mine.
He hangs there, never taking his eyes off of mine and all I do is blink. He’s hanging from a cross and all I do is sit in my chains watching, and despite my inactivity he still hangs there. I wonder if as he looked at me he saw me now, from this moment, standing in church with my arms raised singing until my lungs give out. Does he see me with my hands raised singing, "Holy are you God, Holy is your name?" I wonder if I helped motivate him to stay on that cross?
I’m standing in my now. My chains are broken and I move freely, but I can’t stop thinking about the garden, I can’t stop hearing the whip, and I can’t stop seeing the cross. It has changed the way I see everything. It has changed the way I see people and the way I see myself. It changed everything because He sees me.
I don’t know if the foreknowledge of my freedom helped keep him on the cross but I know it shows me someone motivated by love. I want to be a person motivated by love. The love from the son hanging on the cross motivates me to love people better. I pray I never forget the garden, I pray I always remember the sound of the whip, and I always want to keep a fresh revelation of Jesus hanging on the cross. Because with out it I am nothing but a bound emotionless broken person who can’t see beyond my own chains.
By living in the freedom of the release from the chains I am able to see people better, to always remember I was once bound as well and only the love of a savior set me free. His love motivates me to keep those things in the fore front of my mind so I might love people better; to encourage them to love others setting off a chain reaction of life-changing, hope building, determined people motivated by love.
6 comments:
That's a breath takeing post! Truly brilliant and unfolding revilation!!
I heard the cracking of the whip and saw the blood as I read this.... I'm challenged...Changed..Thankful, for Jesus and for you!!
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This post is amazing. As a reader, I could clearly see Jesus on the cross and hear what you heard. That's what writing is all about; to transport the reader to the place, sounds, time and feelings you are writing about. You clearly do this in your post. Your words are very visual in their description. Reading your post is a very personal experience for me as a Christian, but I'm sure even someone who is not in a relationship with Christ could vividly see from your words the love Christ displayed on the cross. Keep writing girlie. You have a real talent for painting life changing pictures with your words.
compelling! good job roomie! this is a great illustration of the cross and how personal it is to each and everyone of us... so proud of you.
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