It was just after midnight in the Fall of 2003 when my phone rang… I wouldn't sleep for the following 2 days…
It was my friend Noah that had called that night. He'd called to ask if I would take Luke 9:23 literally, if I'd deny myself sleep and take up my cross. I don't know how he came up with the idea, but the day prior, he'd taken to constructing a 20 x 15 cross out of wood that weighed more than 300lbs and wanted help planting it at the top of the enormous hill behind my family's house. I don't want to take too much time writing about the details involved in the task of dragging the cross up there, but rather what it means to me.
You see, this is the first time I ever really WORKED for Christ, and it was nearly a decade ago… But that cross is still there. The testimony of my life dedicated to the glory of God is still there, visible to TENS OF THOUSANDS. Three cities in southern California are reminded everytime they see that, of the sacrafice that Christ made for us sinners. I've been up there to see the cross everytime I'm back home in Cali… the strong winds and weather have beaten it pretty good, but it's still there, standing tall as a reminder of redemption, grace, mercy, salvation. I think the most incredible thing God showed me, was that when you do something in secret, in the middle of the night, for HIS GLORY and not your own. When we truly take up our cross… the blessings He pours out on us are usually more than we could have ever imagined when we first said "send me".
My little sister, Sarah, called me a couple months ago. She said a few of her Christian friends at school had asked if she wanted to help them with something. It's something so beautiful that it could have never been orchestrated by anyone other than God… they were planning to take another, bigger cross up that hill to put next to the old battered one that I'd helped take up there almost 10 years ago!!! None of them knew that Sarah's brother (Me) had a part in the first one 🙂 HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!!
When I think about the way God pours out His blessings on us when we do what we all ought to do as followers of Christ. When we deny ourselves daily. When we take up our cross and endure suffering for His name sake. When we love Christ by obeying His commands. When we say "send me". I can't even begin to imagine the ways God is going to bless us on this World Race. Blessings we don't deserve, but that He freely gives us because of His great love 🙂
I'm ready to take this cross to the ends of the earth so that the people we meet will 10 years from now still know and still see this great love with which God loved us 🙂
