Rest in the Cross

In my hometown, the First Baptist Church sits at the center of the city. I have noticed on numerous recent occasions that a bird (or birds) likes to sit on the cross of this church’s steeple. This bird takes a break from its flight by sitting perched atop the cross. 

Although this bird does not realize the significance of its action, a valuable lesson can be learned from this image. I want to encourage you, like this bird, to rest in the cross. 

Rest in the cross when the burden of your sin is too much to bear alone. Remember that Jesus bore that burden for you on the cross. Because of what He did there, we can be forgiven of our sin. We can’t carry the shame, guilt, condemnation, and despair of sin alone, but the good news is that we don’t have to. Jesus invites us to rest in the cross and allow Him to take our burdens so that we might walk free. Rest in the cross. 

Rest in the cross when life is difficult. When your present circumstances seem too much to bear, when you are overwhelmed with sorrow, when devastation is outside of your control, rest in the cross. Rest in the peace Jesus offers that cannot come from the world, His peace that surpasses all understanding. Take your worries and your cares to the one who is in control of them, the one who has overcome the world. Run to Jesus, and rest in the cross. 

Rest in the cross when death looms as a dark enemy. Maybe you have lost a loved one or maybe you are frightened of your own death, but rest in the cross when these thoughts and emotions arise. Jesus died, but He did not stay dead. He bled and suffered on the cross, but He did not stay hanging there. He is now alive and sitting at the right hand of God the Father as our risen Savior. He has defeated death and allows us to share in that victory as well. Oh, brother or sister, when death seems to stand near as a menacing foe, cling tightly to Jesus. He defeated death through the cross, and you can rest in the cross. 

“So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.” John 19:16b-19