Crushed

“Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”  Luke 20:18

What does this verse speak to you? Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone it is talking about. It reminds me of another verse: “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25). Both of these verses, to me, are completely black and white, leaving no room at all for shades of grey.

If we say we are believers, disciples of Christ, then all we are and all we have are His and for His glory. The revelation of who we are without Christ so breaks our heart that we cannot imagine life without Him. He consumes our thoughts and actions. Hence our life is lost in His, we have fallen on the stone and it has broken us.

If we do not believe, we live life not as He chooses but our own way instead. Our thoughts and lives are consumed with ourselves, our desires, our problems. It brings a third verse to mind: “There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12), for it is when we die that the stone then falls on us, and we are crushed by it and by the weight of our own choices.

I would much rather fall on the stone than have the stone fall on me. Being broken by it doesn’t mean life is suddenly no longer fun or that I no longer have desires. For me to be broken is the only way to kill all that is necessary in order for me to live, which means death no longer has the final say over me. It is the only way I can truly have life, and one that is not only full but also joyful, fearless, and filled with purpose and meaning.

“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.”  2 Corinthians 4:8-9

“But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39