DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

life is about the cross

from WELS.net Daily Devotions 08/3/2019

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 6:14

Most of you have probably never heard of a man by the name of Christian Hosoi. In the world of competitive skateboarding, however, Christian Hosoi is a legend. Already in his early teens, he was doing things with a skateboard no one else could do. With early success came fame. With fame came commercial endorsements. With commercial endorsements came lots of money. And when all of this mingled with a reckless, pleasure-seeking lifestyle, Christian Hosoi found himself in the middle of his own self-made universe. Life was about him. It was that simple.
Then his universe collapsed. His finances took a serious downturn. Substance abuse consumed him. Finally, authorities arrested him at an airport for transporting drugs. He received a sentence of 10 years in prison.

Behind bars, one day he had an opportunity to talk to a close friend by phone. Her advice was simple. “Find a Bible,” she said. “Find a Bible and read it.” He did. At first, it was slow going, but then he read about King David’s downfall and God’s forgiveness. That kept him reading. And he kept right on reading until the Word of God brought him to the foot of the cross, the message of what God had done for him through the life and death of Jesus Christ. For the first time in his life, life was not about him. Instead, his life was about something far better.

You and I don’t need to face prison time in order to acknowledge that, very often, our lives have revolved around us. The devil wants us to think that way. The sinful culture around us and our own sinful nature wants us to think that way.

The Apostle Paul had once thought that way too. But the Lord Jesus intervened, and Paul’s life began to be about something far better. “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Paul says. Forgiven through faith in Jesus, you and I can echo his words.

Prayer: Forgive me, Lord Jesus, for all the times I have allowed my life to be about me. Move me by your Spirit to embrace the reality that my life is about the cross. My life is about you. Amen.

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