Nailing Jesus to the Cross

I woke up this morning with a long list of things to do so I asked God for strength to make it through. I turned on Pandora to “Country Faith Radio” (one of my favorite Pandora channels) then I cleaned the kitchen, dusted the house, and vacuumed the floors. I was scrubbing the tub when one of my favorite songs started playing “They nailed him to a tree”, on the album “It’s a God thing” feat. Mo Pitney. It got me thinking about Jesus’ sacrifice for us. I started talking to God and asked him aloud, “we ask you for so many things Lord and you always come through but right now I’m asking what we can do as your servants do for you?” 

Listen to “They Nailed Him to a Tree” here.

I expected him to remind me of something I hear often, a word, a verse, a commandment, or doctrine. I stopped for a minute as tears filled my eyes when I heard him say to my surprise, he said ;

“Stop nailing me to the cross. Stop sacrificing me for your pleasure. Stop making me hurt and stop making me bleed. Every drink that is taken, every pill that is swallowed, every puff that is  smoked, every lie ever told, every needle ever stuck, every slice across a wrist, every ounce of lust, every sin against yourselves, every sin against another, everything that makes me break is why I continue to suffer.”

I took a deep breath as I realized Jesus dying on the cross wasn’t a one-time event. He dies on the cross for us every day.

 We can choose to sin in this world and believe it only affects us but the moment we receive the Holy Spirit and repent for each sin; we nail Jesus to the cross again and again. What we do to our bodies matter because they are the temple of God after we open our hearts to Jesus. If you wouldn’t walk into God’s house openly sinning and carrying on in the ways of the world then what makes you think it’s ok to do it in your body which belongs to him?

God knows our pain and struggles because his spirit was born into this world through Jesus to experience and overcome our suffering. I was heartbroken when I truly understood that God feels what we feel every single day.

We tell ourselves that he’s God and everything is perfect for him. He doesn’t have to feel pain, he can decide not to participate in the ugliness of the world. But because he holds the knowledge of both good and evil he feels and understands them both.

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5 NIV) .

But he still knows darkness. He couldn’t be the light without knowing the dark. When God sent Jesus to die on the cross, he knew the pain he was asking Jesus to take on himself. He knew the suffering that would continue to take place until Jesus comes back to gather the harvest. Jesus knew what his father was asking him to do and he did it because he loves us. The measure of his love is not from the amount of blood he lost on the day of his crucifixion, but by the blood we make him shed for every sin we choose to make daily. 

Ask yourself how many times am I going to nail Jesus to the cross today? 

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” ( Revelation 21:4 NIV)