Lessons from a 4 year old: How the Cross Makes you Really Really Fast

Yesterday my dear four year old came to me as proud as ever with marker drawn on his arms telling me that he found a marker in the bathroom. You moms all know how this goes, they are proud, you are horrified at the mess or disaster created and they are pretty sure they are the next Picasso. Well, the next words out of his mouth did surprise me, but in a whole other way. He said "I drew the sign of the cross on my wrists so that I could run really, really, really, really, really, really (insert 10 more really's) really fast. As I looked closer on his wrist sure enough, they weren't random marks, they were crosses, one on each wrist.

It's a proud parent moment when you get to see that your four year old realizes that God can make us better. He loves to run and is always looking to be faster. He has certain shirts he calls his "fast" shirts, and often has to change into shorts because he can go faster in those too. But I just absolutely love that he decided above all of that that clearly the cross would make him fastest of all.

Hebrews 12:1-3 says

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us

and persevere in running the race that lies before us

while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.

For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross,

despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.

Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners,

in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart."

How absolutely right my son is, that not only does God - keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus - help us in our race, but truly focusing on the cross itself, not just as a sign for Jesus but as a motivational reminder, is key. When we look at the cross and consider what he endured as the third verse says, then we will not grow weary or lose heart with the obstacles we are facing because it's nothing compared to what He went through. 

The verse and the cross both call us to shed our sin. It's slowing us down! And if we think we can't, just look at the cross. We can, because of the cross, because He embraced that cross, we have the power to overcome the sins that cling to us, that slow us down, that hold us back from the life we were made to live, the race we were made to run.  

I'm called to consider, by a four year old who found a marker, a question: am I relying on the cross to help me finish this race, or am I looking to other things instead? I'll reflect on that as I'm scrubbing the marker off of the wall in the bathroom...consider how he endured such opposition...it's just a little ink. :)