An Old Dead Chicken

When we were children we lived in Jackson, Mississippi.  We often came to visit our grandparents who lived on a farm in the northeast part of the state.  Whenever we got there, Grandma almost always sent Grandpa to the store for one thing or another. 

 One time, my youngest brother went with Grandpa to the store.  It was just a little old country store but the owner somehow managed to stock plenty of items.  He and Grandpa were good friends and they joked around a lot. 

 When Grandpa and John got home, Grandpa was still smiling.  He told me the owner asked John  what he liked to eat.  My brother was pretty young at the time – maybe about four.  John told the man he liked chicken. 

 “Chicken?” the owner asked.  “Why, you wouldn’t eat an old dead chicken would you?”  Grossed out by the thought of it John shook his head and said, “No!  I wouldn’t do that!”  The owner chuckled, but didn’t ask him any more questions.  My little brother never knew he was the source of entertainment that day. 

 This is a lighthearted incident; but remembering it prompted me to think about something much more serious.  I thought about sin … my sin.  So many times we say Jesus died for our sins, but do we really think about what we are saying? 

 Our Savior did not want to die on the cross.  He did not want to go through that pain.  In Gethsemane, He asked God to “let this cup pass from me.”  Christ prayed that same prayer three times.  Each time He told the Father, “not as I will, but as you will.” 

 Jesus was then betrayed, arrested, interrogated, slapped, spit on, mocked, scourged, and crucified.  It was ugly.  It was painful.   And it was my sin that put Him there.  Unfortunately, sometimes I try to distance myself  from that ugly, painful realization. 

 When Aaron was about 8 years old, he was with us at a youth meeting.  During the devotional, the youth minister said our sins put Jesus on the cross.  Tears came to Aaron’s eyes.  He looked up and said, “What?  I didn’t hurt Jesus!”  Aaron was visibly upset.  He was too young to understand that the youth minister was talking about our sin. 

Our hearts should be tender and compassionate when we think of what the Lord went through for us.  We shouldn’t think about the cross in generic terms.  The death of Christ should be personal to each one of us.  After all, that is the way Jesus feels about it.  

Christ died for me and you because He knew we needed Him.  

Our Savior is above all things.  

Robin Whitley