Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Max Lucado (2012-01-02) from his book, He Chose the Nails (p. 25). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) And that is what they put on Jesus ’  head.   They put a Crown of Thorns on the One who knew no sin.   Why did He let them do that?  Why? Max says, “I emphasize the ‘point’ of the thorns to suggest a point you may have never considered: if the fruit of sin is thorns, isn’t the thorny crown on Christ’s brow a picture of the fruit of our sin that pierced his heart?” He goes on, “What is the fruit of sin? Step into the briar patch of humanity and feel a few thistles. Shame. Fear. Disgrace. Discouragement. Anxiety. Haven’t our hearts been caught in these brambles? “The heart of Jesus, however, had not. He had never been cut by the thorns of sin. What you and I face daily, he never knew. Anxiety? He never worried! Guilt? He was never guilty! Fear? He never left the presence of God! Jesus never knew the fr

A thought by Max Lucado (2012-01-02) from his book, He Chose the Nails (p. 17). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Have you ever done that?   There is a new film coming out of the fable of Beauty and the Beast.   Have you ever thought that we too many times are more like the beast than the beauty?   Over in Matthew 27 it tells of when the soldiers had Jesus and they were preparing to take Him to be killed but they first decided to have some fun with Him.   And it says they “spat on Jesus”.   The beast in them came out. Max says, “Spitting isn’t intended to hurt the body— it can’t. Spitting is intended to degrade the soul, and it does. What were the soldiers doing? Were they not elevating themselves at the expense of another? They felt big by making Christ look small.”   And we do that sometimes, don’t we?   We do things that make us look big by making someone else look small. Max goes on, “Maybe you’ve never spit