The importance of the cross (5)

The cross must become a vital part of your everyday life. Why? Because you have three relentless enemies you must overcome each day: sin, Satan, and self. How do you overcome them? By living the crucified life. Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” You say, “It’s too difficult to live a Christian life!” No, it’s not difficult…it’s impossible. The only way is to let the power and person of Christ live through you. That’s why Paul wrote, “God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14 NKJV). After years in a Russian labour camp, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn became so depressed that he wanted to die. Laying his shovel down, he walked over to a bench and sat down, knowing that any moment a guard could come by and use that shovel to beat him to death. It was then that a fellow inmate took a stick and in the sand at Solzhenitsyn’s feet traced out the sign of the cross. As he stared at it, his entire perspective shifted. Realizing the cross represented the greatest power in the universe, he slowly got up, picked up his shovel, and went back to work under the sign of the cross. And you must do that too. Each day, remind yourself: “Jesus died for me. I died with Him. When I die to me, He lives in me. When He lives in me, I can live for Him.” That’s the secret of a victorious Christian life.