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“Girls, it’s Good Friday! It’s time to bake our cross-shaped cookies to give to our neighbors. Katherine, you get out the mixing bowls. Courtney, you find the cross cookie cutter. Then we’ll mix and roll out the dough and cut out the cookies with our cross-shaped cookie cutter. Once the cookies are baked and cooled, we’ll wrap some up for each neighbor and decorate the package. Later, when Dad gets home, we’ll deliver them together to our friends for Easter!”
Our cookie-cutter collection included the shapes of a baby chick, a bunny rabbit, and even an Easter egg. But I always chose the cross when we baked these Eastertime cookies. Until my daughters were of an age when they “got it,” they would ask me the same question: “Why the cross? Why not the chick or the bunny or the egg?”
I tried to answer their question in a way that would teach my young daughters the meaning of the cross of Christ. To help simplify it and make it memorable, I used the acrostic C-R-O-S-S. Why the cross? Because it is the longtime symbol of Christianity and represents the death of Jesus Christ.
C– hrist, God-in-flesh, gave His life (Philippians 2:8) as a
R– ansom, a payment, for our sins (Matthew 20:28),
O– ffering up His life as a sinless sacrifice (Hebrews 10:14),
S– uffering unto death (Hebrews 12:2) to secure our
S– alvation from sin and death (Colossians 2:13-14).
As my girls began to understand the meaning, their excitement grew more and more over the years. “Don’t forget the cards, Mom,” my daughters would remind me. “Let’s sign the special cross-shaped Easter cards about the cross to take with the cookies!”
For years each Eastertime this was a tradition for our family. It was one way that Jim and I taught our daughters–and one way that our family shared with our neighbors–the Easter message: the good news of Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, the good news of Jesus’ triumph over sin and death, and the good news of salvation and eternal life through Him.
Whether you are married, widowed, or single, have children at home, or have an empty nest, consider ways you can share from your home about Jesus this Easter. His life, death, and resurrection are the best news! Who do you know who needs to hear it?
RESPOND
Dear Lord, thank You for Your plan of redemption and sacrificial gift of Your Son. Help me be bold and wise in sharing about the cross of Christ. Amen.
RENEWING RESOURCES
C-R-O-S-S Print –We’ve created a beautiful CROSS art print to help you share this message! Click here to view this and other specials.
REFLECT
Have you embraced the Christ of the cross as your Savior?
Are you teaching your children about the cross? Are you reaching out to others with the message of the cross?
REMEMBER
The Easter message is: the good news of Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, the good news of Jesus’ triumph over sin and death, and the good news of salvation and eternal life through Him.
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Jim and Elizabeth George are bestselling authors and national speakers dedicated to helping people live a life after God’s own heart. Together, they have written over 150 books with more than 14 million copies sold around the world. For over 35 years, the teachings and steadfast example of Elizabeth and Jim have helped countless men and women:
Jim and Elizabeth George are bestselling authors and national speakers dedicated to helping people live a life after God’s own heart. Together, they have written over 150 books with more than 14 million copies sold around the world. For over 35 years, the teachings and steadfast example of Elizabeth and Jim have helped countless men and women:
How did men and women in the Bible accomplish great things for God? There wasn’t any secret formula or bestselling book on success for them. In fact, they were ordinary people like you and me. What made them effective was their willingness to obey God—one decision at a time.
