Every day we face mountains, we face decisions, we face cross-roads in life. Do we make our choices based on what we think seems best or most appealing, or do we make our choices in view of Calvary?
Mark 14 really spoke to my heart today. Every time I read about Christ struggle that last night in the garden of Gethsemane, I think of His yielding up His will on our behalf so that we could be saved. Then I think, "Why do I sometimes struggle to yield up my will to Him, so that I can be saved? Why do I struggle letting go of something that I want, or of walking a path that might seem more comfortable but would actually lead me away from Him?" It's because I still don't fully understand His sacrifice. I don't understand what Christ has done on my behalf!
In Desire of Ages we are told:
"Behold Him contemplating the price to be paid for the human soul. In His agony He clings to the cold ground, as if to prevent Himself from being drawn farther from God. The chilling dew of night falls upon His prostrate form, but He heeds it not. From His pale lips comes the bitter cry, 'O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.' Yet even now He adds, 'Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.' "(p. 687)
In another place, Ellen White writes:
"Few give thought to the suffering that sin has caused our Creator. All heaven suffered in Christ’s agony; but that suffering did not begin or end with His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception, sin has brought to the heart of God. Every departure from the right, every deed of cruelty, every failure of humanity to reach His ideal, brings grief to Him. When there came upon Israel the calamities that were the sure result of separation from God,—subjugation by their enemies, cruelty, and death,—it is said that “His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.” “In all their affliction He was afflicted: ... and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old.” Judges 10:16; Isaiah 63:9. (Education, p. 263)
If He cried "Not my will but thy will," on my behalf, then I can cry, "Not my will, but thy will" on Christ behalf!
[Five years ago today, April 30, 2013, my grandmother died! How I miss her! Wish she could be alive and see what God has been doing in our lives in answer to her prayers. Unfortunately, she did not live long enough to know that my brother's got married and started families, nor did she live long enough to see my first book get published... so many times I think of her and wish she was still alive, wish I knew that she was still praying for me... but someday, I look forward to seeing her again. Here's the link I made of one of my favorite songs: God's Family Reunion! Someday...]
[Five years ago today, April 30, 2013, my grandmother died! How I miss her! Wish she could be alive and see what God has been doing in our lives in answer to her prayers. Unfortunately, she did not live long enough to know that my brother's got married and started families, nor did she live long enough to see my first book get published... so many times I think of her and wish she was still alive, wish I knew that she was still praying for me... but someday, I look forward to seeing her again. Here's the link I made of one of my favorite songs: God's Family Reunion! Someday...]
Tomorrow's Reading: 1 Sam. 20-21 and Mark 15
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