Page 8 - Good News August 2006 paper

Edwin Anderson on us. It is also causing many to seek delightful detours and
Edwin Anderson
asked an acquaintance who had recently returned from a smooth side-paths rather that the clear, high line of Christian
business trip to Central America: “What impressed you the duty.
Imost?” We need to look long and lovingly at Calvary, again and again,
He smiled, pursed his lips in thought, and answered, “Well, I to learn that there simply cannot be any cheap crosses. We
can tell you in just two words: ‘Cheap crosses!’ ” must catch a glimpse of the infinite cost of “so great a
I stared in surprise, “Cheap crosses! What do you mean?” salvation”. We must behold the blessed One in the fierce
He replied: “I came to a place where they were having an battle of Gethsemane, sweating “as it were great drops of
important religious festival. Everywhere I turned, everywhere blood,” crying out to the Father, “Not MY will, but THINE, be
I looked, I saw crosses - crosses of all kinds and sizes, all the done!”
way from the most expensive down to the crudest of home- We need to go back to the portrait of the Saviour which Paul
made affairs. I learned later that it was required that everyone presented: “Christ Jesus…made Himself of no reputation,
either carry or display a cross on that special day. and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the
“I shall never forget turning into a side street and coming likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He
upon a small cart with its drowsy donkey and its equally humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the
drowsy peddler. He had only one kind of product for sale and death of the cross.”
the cart was loaded with them. They were wooden crosses, There at Calvary, love reached its wonderful limit; there grace
poorly put together. What struck me most was the sign on top spanned the farthest extent of its glory; there mercy
of that pile. It read, ‘CHEAP CROSSES’. Religion here was magnified itself beyond degree. When the Son submitted
obviously a matter of convenience, and he was doing his bit in Himself to Calvary, He was demonstrating the fathomless
meeting it…” cost of redemption. Even now the Holy Spirit presents the
“Cheap crosses!” It can also be written over a good deal of power of the Cross, as a penetrating persuasion to win our
what passes for religious observance in this day! Many complete and undivided allegiance.
people desire a belief which does not cost much, or press too We need to experience the power of the Cross in our lives
sharply on their bank balance. But it is good to remember that continually. The privilege of walking with God must not be
that which is without cost is likewise without power - however lightly esteemed. There is no natural desire in the heart of man
attractive the purchase price may be. to behold the agonies of the Cross, or to take up one’s
Let us not be content to apply this principle to a lost world personal cross and follow the Saviour daily; but when we
alone. The Holy Spirit wants to arouse Christians with this become overwhelmed with the price He paid to redeem us, we
same searching, uncomfortable, cutting truth. There is a cry with Paul, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross
personal price - a high cost connected to belief in Christ. In of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14).
these last days it is more than necessary for each of His The Spirit is continually dealing with us, cutting across the
blood-bought own to enter more thoroughly into the heartfelt comfort and convenience and complacency of our lives, in
declaration of David: “Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto order to make us willing to pay the price of carrying our cross.
the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing”
He who spared not His own Son, will surely not spare us the
(2 Samuel 24:24). It probably required a long and drastic keenest sort of judgment if we spare ourselves in any way
exercise of heart, and much prompting of the Holy Spirit, from making a full surrender.
before David reached that pinnacle. There are no “cheap crosses” for those who would walk with
We live in a time of ease, comfort, and carnal carelessness. God!
The desire of people to “get something for nothing” is a curse [From: The Evangelist]