The crowd vs the cross...

The crowd says follow us, the cross says follow me. The crowd says rely on us, the cross says rely on me.  The crowd says earn your worth, the cross says I am your worth.  The crowd says bear your burdens, the cross says nail them to me.  The crowd says be happy, the cross says be holy.  The crowd says if it feels good do it, the cross says for loves sake endure it.  The crowd says honour yourself, the cross says humble yourself.  The crowd says do, the cross says done.  Which will you choose, the crowd or the cross?

I absolutely love this way of looking at the crowd and the cross (I did not make this up, and am not trying to take credit for it...)  So often we seem so alone trying to go the way of the cross.  So many times it seems like following the crowd is the easiest way - why fight it when you can just join in.  Why bother trying to go against the flow? 

The thing is, what happens to following the crowd when something goes wrong, when you lose something important to you, when things don't go the way you wanted/expected them to? 

This is something pain has taught me.  The crowd says you've got to do, do, do. The crowd says that you have to earn everything yourself, you have to rely on yourself, you have to earn everything, work for it.  That becomes a big problem when life is so painful - I feel so weak, so helpless, so unreliable and unable.  The crowd tells me to carry my own burdens, but so often they feel so big and heavy that I cannot even begin to pick them up.  Where does that leave me if I do what the crowd tells me to do?

Then we bring the glorious cross into the picture.  The cross says everything is already done!  The cross says rely on our unchanging God, cast all your burdens onto Him who sustains all things.  Him who created the Universe and Him who has already bared the entirety of my sin.  The cross says hang everything onto me.

So which will you choose - the crowd or the cross?