NEXT

I walked out of the store I manage at 10:34 PM, locked the doors, and walked towards my car with one of my co-workers. We were talking about leadership, things he could do to be promoted at work, and particular areas in his working habits that he could be working on. We finally made it to our cars, and continued to talk until the parking lot lights went off.

With only lights from surrounding restaurants and a gas station, we began to discuss things we loved about our job, things we disliked, and about areas this young man could improve in.

Then as I was speaking, C.J’s message suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks.

“We cannot think of his death too often because in this life his death is a matter of first importance. Scripture is gloriously redundant on this topic,” C.J. told us all at Next, “And if you are a Christian, you will not cease to think and to glory in his death and the life to come. Heaven is never indifferent to the cross, it never gets tired of the cross. We will never cease to praise Christ for his death. We are never done with the cross, nor ever shall be.”

And suddenly in my conversation and words the cross came through. I detailed how the cross had been the cornerstone for me at work, particularly by keeping me humble when I was tempted to be proud. God’s grace came shining through in our conversation.

It was a moment where I realized God had given me a perfect opportunity to proclaim the gospel and how it had affected my life – and I didn’t blow it. By his grace I took the opportunity and told my co-worker that the only way he was going to truly “improve” was to realize that he simply cannot improve on his own. I took the small issues of work, and helped him see that there is a lot more to this life. I wanted to deal with bigger issues than promotions at work, so I talked about Christ as our substitute and reminded my co-worker that through his death we are raised to fullness of life.

“This was the scream of the damned in my place,” were the words that echoed in my mind. “It was the scream of the damned for us. He did this for sinners like you and me. He drained the cup dry, leaving us not a drop to drink. He experienced wrath so that we might experience grace. He was forsaken so that we might be forgiven by the father. He screamed so that we might sing nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ. He was forsaken so that we might never be forsaken.”

In the little things of life, the cross has begun to shine through. In the small things of life, I am now realizing, Christ must become preeminent by becoming a daily part of my speech, and I am praying for more opportunities like the one that happened at 10:34 the other night, because I will never be finished with the cross.