I have the
privilege of volunteering with the Art Resores Kids program at my local Family
Justice Center. Now, I am not very artistic myself, and fortunately, this is
not a requirement. One of the workshops we do with the children, called
"Monster in Me" involves coloring with cray-pas, spraying the paper
with water, and then painting over it with water colors. I liked the effect
this had and decided to try it at home and just have fun with it instead of
creating a monster as one would do during a "Monster in Me" workshop.
This is one of the pictures I worked on this Lent:
As I was
painting it, I realized that it is, in a way, representative of a monster in
me. A monster named sin. A monster that seeks to steal, kill, and
destroy, all the while deceiving me into thinking that it is making me
happy. A monster that put the one and
only, blameless Son of God through an unjust trial, beat Him, mocked Him, and
crucified Him. Yes, the bloodstained
cross reveals to me that there is a monster in me.
Yet at the
same time, the empty cross reveals a bigger, brighter picture to me. That cross was the battlefield on which
Christ took on that monster- and WON! As
beaten up as that monster left Christ, it was the monster who was defeated. The monster was left nailed to a cross, while
Christ rose from the dead, ascended to Heaven, and sent His Spirit to live in
me. No longer monster in me, but Christ
in me!
This Lent, I
have felt the battle between Christ and that monster more than I ever have
before as that battle plays out in my heart.
That monster won’t die without a fight.
Fortunately, Christ already won and this Easter weekend I get to
celebrate Christ’s victory over the monster that sought to kill me and take
part in the life which Christ has to offer.
This Easter, I get to remember that because of the cross and the resurrection,
it is no longer monster in me, but Christ in me! And THAT is a reason to celebrate!
