For Reading and Meditation:
Galatians 6:1-18
Whenever I hear a person saying that all religions are the same, my mind runs immediately to the cross. If what is found here is true (and I believe it is), and represents the meaning of life, then clearly all religions are not the same. No authentic note of divine self-sacrifice comes from other faiths. The cross stands out in absolute uniqueness. As Toplady put it in his beautiful hymn: In the Cross of Christ I glory, Towering o'er the wrecks of time, All the light of sacred story Gathered round its head sublime. For weeks and months after I became a Christian I wondered why anyone should preach anything except the cross. The redemptive glowing mystery of it took hold of me in the early days of my conversion, and I think I can honestly say it has never ceased to magnetize my heart. Among the ancient inscriptions and paintings on the tombs of Egyptian kings, so I am told, one finds everywhere the symbol of the key of life. Strangely enough, it is in the form of a cross. Christ's cross is the only true key to life. This and this alone unlocks the doors to some of life's greatest mysteries. Other religions try, sometimes with great sincerity, to unlock the doors to these profound mysteries, but they are unsuccessful because they do not have the right key. They do not have a cross.
Father, how can I cease thanking You for the cross? For in it I find the key that unlocks the door of many a mystery, not least the mystery of Your nature - a nature shot through with eternal love. Help me see it even more clearly. In Christ's Name. Amen.