Hebrews 12:2 - Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The word "despise" in this instance means something like "to not pay attention to." The scripture is telling us that Jesus did not let the shame of the cross keep him from doing the will of his father. He came to this earth with a purpose - to restore sinful humanity to a right relationship with God. There was never a thought in his mind about turning back. That decision was made long before he was born. He was conceived in the mind and plan of God before the foundation of the world. The human part of him, no doubt, had reservations. But the God inside of Him gave him strength to endure the agony of the cross for our sakes.
In the same way, there are times when all of us have to face a cross. It is not a literal Roman cross that I speak of. But it is still a place of crucifixion or dying out to our fleshly desires. We must all come to a place of decision; will I choose my own path or will I follow the one God has chosen for me?
The world we live in is making it increasingly harder to identify oneself as a Christian. There was a time when to identify oneself with Christianity was to identify with all that is Holy, noble, respected and pure. The concept of many in our world today is that Christians are bigots, intolerant, and hard to get along with. The pressure is on to conform.
There are those who try to make us ashamed of our "old-fashioned" ideas about what is proper and what isn't. In such times Christians have a choice to make. It is not a new choice. Jesus' disciples made it, Christians in the dark ages made it, and we must make it now. We must follow Jesus at any cost. Christians should be a peace loving people. We should treat everyone we meet with respect. But we should not allow the world to dictate our morals or lifestyles. The way of the cross might be a shameful one but it leads to Jesus. I say we should choose the cross. How about you?
In Christian Service,
Sullivan Jones
