Good Friday, April 7, 2023 | 10 Days

For if there is ‘false guilt’ (feeling bad about evil we have not done), there is also ‘false innocence’ (feeling good about the evil we have done). If false contrition is unhealthy (an ungrounded weeping over guilt), so is false assurance (an ungrounded rejoicing over forgiveness.)

__Stott, John. The Cross of Christ

Beware of making too much of a cross.

The cross hanging around your neck is not the cross and wearing it does not make you a Christian.

The cross at the top of a steeple is not the cross and having it there does not make a church Christian.

It’s like someone hanging a picture of a banquet table loaded with delicious food and expecting that to satisfy their hunger pangs or a restaurant owner putting up a sign stating that they sell “The World’s Best Hamburger” – that may or may not be true!

The proof is in the pudding, as the saying goes.

The Cross, and more importantly, placing our faith in the one who died there, produces a change – a real, honest-to-God change that affects the rest of our lives – every decision, every word, every deed.

The Cross is a big deal; crosses…not so much.

The ONE THING for today: Displaying a cross can be a good thing if it is backed up by a changed life that has acknowledged Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. By all means, announce to the world where your loyalties lie, but be committed to demonstrating the evidence that says it’s true.

Photo by Corey Collins on Unsplash