{"id":369,"date":"2020-07-17T22:06:54","date_gmt":"2020-07-17T22:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/?p=369"},"modified":"2020-07-17T22:06:54","modified_gmt":"2020-07-17T22:06:54","slug":"take-me-to-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/17\/take-me-to-the-cross\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Me to the Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"

Genesis 35:1 “Then God said to Jacob, \u201cArise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Many years ago, there was a popular Christian song that went something like this:\u00a0 “If you can take me to the cross, I can find my way back home”.\u00a0 It was inspired from the\u00a0 story of a young boy in London who stood crying on a street corner. A policeman approached him and asked what was wrong. The lad responded that he was lost but he remembered that there was a church near his home that had a large, lit up cross. If the officer could help him find that cross, he could find his way back home from there.<\/p>\n

I can relate to that lost boy.\u00a0 When I was in Junior High School, we moved to a new town. It was my first day to attend my new school and I became confused by the train of buses waiting to take us home.\u00a0 I didn’t know which one to board and consequently, missed my bus.\u00a0 We didn’t have a phone yet and I wasn’t even sure of my complete address.\u00a0 But, I new the school was near the shopping mall and if I could just get to the mall, I knew I could find my way back to my house!\u00a0 As I walked in that general direction, I would ask strangers along the way to help direct me.\u00a0 Finally, exhausted, I arrived at the mall! \u00a0 From there, I found my way home!<\/p>\n

This reminds me of how we can get lost in our Christian walk.\u00a0 Oft times, we may become so buried with the cares of this world (and, yes, even the ministry), that we do not realize our spiritual life is suffering.\u00a0 Then, suddenly, we come to realize where we are!\u00a0 How did we get to that point? How do we find our way back?\u00a0 We must go back to the cross just as Jacob went back to Bethel.\u00a0 We need to cry out to God as the sinner did in the Temple, asking God to be merciful to us.<\/p>\n

God told Jacob to return to Bethel which means, “house of God”.\u00a0 He needed to get back to that beginning spot and start off anew and changed.\u00a0 God is our foundation and His word is our compass.\u00a0 If we are to get back on the right road, we must come back to the cross wherein our salvation and Christian life began.\u00a0 From here, we can find our way home.<\/p>\n

Gail Alford<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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