Polling day is very near. By putting a cross against a name on a ballot paper, you can choose who or what you think is best for you and for the country.
But you know that a cross, the X, can have other meanings too. Sometimes X shows that we are wrong. Remember school days when our work was returned with some ticks where we got it right, and often a few Xs to show where we had got it wrong? Oh, dear!
Sometimes X shows that we are loved. At the end of a text message or an email or a letter, you might find some Xs. Someone loves you, or at least they are on good terms with you. That’s better!
Then there’s the upright cross, not the diagonal one, the cross that is so important to Christians. To them, it is important and precious, although it is a reminder of something dreadful, how Jesus patiently endured such terrible suffering and shame on that old rugged cross at Calvary.
This cross also shows us that we are wrong and that we are loved. Our many wrongdoings deserve God’s judgement, but He loves us so much that He gave His only Son to take the punishment for our sin so that we could be forgiven. Jesus Christ our Lord, a completely sinless man, willingly died on the cross to provide salvation for us. But to receive that salvation, we must make our choice. It doesn’t just happen, any more than choosing a name on a ballot paper just happens. God calls us to repent of our sins and choose Jesus Christ to be our Saviour, each of us for ourselves. We have to make up our mind.
The cross is very important!
Used by kind permission of Bert Cargill, St Monans
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