have you forgotten the cross?

 There's a ministry I'm thankful to be part of called Higher Ground. It's a weekend retreat geared entirely toward providing an opportunity for people to draw closer to God, with 6 weekends offered each year--3 for men and 3 for women. One small part I get to play involves putting the words, "In God's Love" onto handmade wooden crosses.

If you don't know this about me, one skill I can say I mastered in pursuit of my master's degree was procrastination. As a result, yesterday morning was Friday and I still needed to do the lettering for Sunday. But as I said, it's the one skill I mastered, so it will be done on time (deadlines and I have a sort of...understanding). So I sent a text that said, "Just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten the cross."

It was a perfectly harmless statement about a simple piece of wood, but it got me to thinking. Don't you just hate it when that happens?

Can I honestly say that I haven't forgotten the cross?

We get reminded of it once a year on Easter. We read the scriptures and watch the movies. Or we wear it on a chain around our necks, bright and clean and shining gold. Or we hang it up as decoration in our homes, maybe a pretty metal cross with intricate scrollwork.

But when I see that cross, do I truly remember what it means? Do I think about the price my Savior paid that day? Do I remember how He stood in silence while He was mocked and beaten? Do I think about what it meant for Him to let them nail His hands and feet to the wood?

"It was by Him that everything was created: the heavens, the earth, all things within and upon them, all things seen and unseen, thrones and dominions, spiritual powers and authorities. Every detail was crafted through His design, by His own hands, and for His purposes." (Colossians 1:16)

And yet, the Creator allowed His creation to drive spikes through His hands and feet...as if those simple pieces of metal could hold the Creator of the Universe to a tree He had made.

When I see the cross, do I remember what it must have been like when the Son experienced distance from the Father for the first and only time in all of eternity? Do I think about what He felt when my sin was placed on His shoulders? Do I see Him crying out, "My God, why have You forsaken me?" as He felt the weight of all our sin fall on Him? Do I consider the agony that must have consumed His entire being in that moment--physically, mentally, emotionally, but most of all spiritually?

Do I remember the price paid for my salvation, or have I forgotten the cross?