Cast all of Your Cares . . .
"Jesus called out with a loud voice,
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this,
he breathed his last." (Luke 23:46)
Most of you are probably checking your calendars about now, and some of you are
preparing to send me a kind e-mail, just to let me know that I'm about 6 months
ahead of schedule. The celebration of Jesus' death isn't until next Spring!
This is the wrong time of the year to be talking about Jesus' last words on the
cross!
Or is it? Is any time of the year a "wrong" time to be thinking and
talking about Jesus' sacrifice to humanity? I don't think so. There are many
practical, everyday lessons to be learned from the cross, far too many for us
to comprehend in the few weeks around the Easter/Passover season; and our
spiritual lives would benefit from contemplating them regularly. In fact, I
would maintain that everyday is the right day to celebrate the cross! For in so
doing, we are reminded on a daily basis of Jesus' supreme gift!
Let's take a moment to think about the phrase that was one of the last Jesus
uttered before He died: "Father, into your hands I commit my
spirit." (Luke 23:46). Imagine this. Jesus is hanging on the cross,
just moments from death. He is at the height of His physical pain and
suffering, and now, with death so immanent, He is also at the peak of His
mental anguish. Talk about stress! Death is at the doorstep, and not just any
death, but the most horrible death known to man; and besides this, the weight
of all sins ever committed on earth, and ever to be committed, are hanging on
His heart. As if this isn't enough, Jesus can't even feel the presence of His
Father, for this void had previously caused Him to cry out, "My God, My
God, Why have You forsaken Me?!" (Matt. 27:49?).
How would you and I stand up under this kind of stress? I venture to say that
we have all crumbled under much less! Yet in Jesus' final words on the cross
lies the key to how we can be strong, no matter what we are being asked to
face: "Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit!" Talk about
casting your cares on God! This has got to be the ultimate in "burden
casting"! In the midst of all that He was going through, including the
feeling of utmost separation from His father, Jesus still has faith enough to
"Cast" His "Burdens"!
What a potent example for each of us! The next time your worries and problems
seem overwhelming, remember the cross and those final words of our Lord and
Savior before His death, follow His example! "Father, into Your
hands I commit my spirit!"
Dear Lord, help us to remember, no matter how rough the waters of life may be,
to "Cast all [our] anxiety on Him because He cares for [us]!"
(1 Peter 5:7)
Lyn Chaffart
Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org ,