Jesus, Keep Me Near Your Cross

4/9 Reading Portions: Leviticus 13; Psalm 15-16; Proverbs 27; 2 Thessalonians 1

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4/9 Reading Portions: Leviticus 13; Psalm 15-16; Proverbs 27; 2 Thessalonians 1

Proverbs 27:8

Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home.

BIRD

While we certainly recognize that many species of birds fly south for warmer climes each year, this straying, or wandering as the KJV translates the Hebrew word, is a restless roving or an unsettled, unreasonable, or uncalculated departure. For men, it may be akin to a “grass is greener” elsewhere attitude. It is an instability of mind and a wavering of our faith. James describes it like this:

…for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. James 1:6

Where is our home while we sojourn in this God-hating, Christ-rejecting world? Why, it is at the foot of the cross of course. The sinner who strays from this place commits the acme of foolishness. The spiritual truth of Calvary’s cross provides cleansing through Christ’s shed blood, power through Christ’s finished work, and thanksgiving through God’s precious gift of His one and only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. When we look to the blood-stained tree of Calvary to see that our Lord hangs not upon its patibulum, because He’s been buried, risen, and ascended, the believer’s home is also, and evermore, in Christ’s bosom. As the Lord Jesus was in the bosom of the Father during His messianic ministry on earth, we too are in the bosom of the Son while He rules and reigns upon His heavenly throne until He comes again. To stray from Christ and the eternal truth of His atoning death, is to take wing like Noah’s dove, finding no rest for her foot while away from the safety of the ark. The wandering heart reflects our lack of watchfulness. Mr. Spurgeon illustrates this by mentioning the bird wandering from its nest and the cuckoo dropping its egg in while the bird is away. When the bird returns, it must hatch the egg of its enemy. When we have wandered, Satan drops a temptation into our nest, which when hatched by an unstable faith, presents all kinds of trouble in our lives. We must cling to the nest of our Christ and His cross, and in so doing, the sweet sound of salvation’s song will chirp merrily from Calvary’s tree. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

We must not wander, neither stray,
From the cross of Jesus—
It keeps our faith in truth’s pure way
So temptations do not seize us.