Suffering and Sacrifice, or lack there of...

Last night at Siege Reece spoke about Jesus death and the price he paid to forgive us of our sins. I had heard this message before. I had seen a cross before. I mean they are all over the place. But it never really occurred to me how truly significant the cross was until we broke out into small groups and I started teaching some youth about it. How many people these days wear a pretty little cross around their neck or have t-shirts with crosses on them or cross tattoos? How many of those people actually believe and truly understand the meaning and significance of that symbol. People will tell you "Oh yeah, Jesus died on the cross for our sins." There are a couple things wrong with this answer. First of all its left at that and nothing more. People don't elaborate or explain what it means to them. To many its just a symbol from a story. A story that many people still don't truly understand. Second of all, their answer is the complete opposite of the way the topic and vision of the cross should be approached. The cross wasn't a happy thing, like oh yay for me cause Jesus died cause he's so nice and that's cool, I'll wear a cross around my neck to show off that i know the story of Jesus and he died for me cause I'm special! Just so everyone knows Jesus death wasn't what many think it was. Jesus suffered! He was beaten beyond recognition and was stripped naked and NAILED to a cross and was hung for everyone to see. He was spat on and mocked and he had to pull himself up by the nails just to catch a breath. He had a crown of thorns, like actual sharp thorns, forced upon his head. That is just the tip of the iceberg. His death and crucifixion was a huge act of sacrifice that put him through more suffering than we could ever imagine. We go about our lives thinking that we have to make so many sacrifices that are inconvenient to us and we don't even stop and think about the ultimate sacrifice that was paid. Our definition of suffering is so flawed its not even funny. Girls don't want to suffer through the rain cause their newly straightened hair will get messed up. Guys don't want to suffer through an in depth conversation with their significant other because the game is on. We can't sacrifice 2 hours of our day to go help with this church event, or pray, or read our bibles, or just stop and thank God for everything. We are too busy with work, school, a social life, and many other things. What gives us the right to refer the petty things in our life that we don't want to do as "suffering"? The next time you look at the cross around your neck, on your shirt, or inked on your arm stop and think about the true significance that we as a culture have turned into just a cool symbol. Think about what real suffering looks like and take the time to thank God for his sacrifice that saved us!