~Johnny And The Cross

Johnny and his friends had had several drinks at the lakeside that summer night long ago and were having what they thought was a grand old time. It was dark outside with only faint moonlight, so the friends had turned on the lights of their '55 Chevy so they could see as they partied. The water was warm and inviting so Johnny decided he would go for a swim. He swam for quite a while by the twin streams of light as the headlights reflected across the lake. Suddenly though, the lake became dark, leaving Johnny disoriented and no longer able to find his way. The friends, having decided to play a little "joke" on Johnny, turned off the headlights and became very quiet.    Johnny became more and more tired and anxious as he swam on in the dark, not knowing which was the way to safety and which was the way of danger. Panic began to overtake him and his strength was just about gone when he spotted a faint light on the surface of the water. He began to swim toward it. As he drew nearer to the light he saw the shape of a cross reflected in the water up ahead. Johnny swam with renewed energy and, reaching the wooden cross, he leapt toward it. He threw his arms around the cross and clung there, having finally found a placeof safety and of refuge on the old utility pole that had been left there when the area was filled in to become a lake. Johnny's friends meanwhile, realizing that he might be in trouble, began to call to him and they turned the lights back on so he could see where they were. Having caught his breath and rested, Johnny swam safely to the shore.   Johnny's experience is not unlike many of ours as we journey through life. When we are young, we think we have safety as we go about our way, not heeding the warning of those who have traveled the way before us and who have found the life-giving cross of Christ. We may not even realize that we are walking in darkness until we are too far out to find our way back to the light. We have an enemy that lures us one small step at a time away from this light until one day, in panic, we realize our need. Whether we see it or not, there is a cross, a place of refuge, of salvation and healing that gives life eternal and in fullness. Sometimes we may think that coming to the cross of Christ is for sissies or for those who are less sophisticated than we, and we avoid the only life preserver there is. Would we be too proud tohave clung to that cross if we had been Johnny? Would we be too proud to take hold of a life preserver if we were drowning?    Johnny was saved when he embraced and put his whole weight on that cross in the water. We are saved the same way. It was on a cross that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins 2000 yearsago, and it is in coming to that cross in faith, turning fromour sins and receiving forgiveness that we receive what the Scripture calls the "gift of eternal life". (Romans 6:23) This life is the life of God which He places within us by His Spirit. In Him we find peace, we find reconciliation with God, and we find meaning and purpose for life. You can come to this cross and find this life that He gives as millions of others have. Jesus did not remain on the cross, but He was raised from the dead by the Father, and it is because He lives that we can have new life. back to Keepsakes Home