Are Your Cross Ties Secure?

Trains have been a source of enjoyment many times in my life. My dad took me on a train ride in East Texas from Tyler to San Antonio when I was about 10. We ate in the dining car and sat in the observation car.  There was also the Reader Railroad Camden that most kids, in south Arkansas at least, visited during school outings. 

A couple of weeks ago, while heading to church, we were caught by the train that goes through the small town we attend church in. We were right up near the crossing guardrail so we could see the train up close. I watched with amazement as the train wheels of each car rolled onto the rails. Those rails moved! They bent beneath the load of the cars. Although steel is incredibly strong it had to sway as the heavy cars rolled across. If it weren’t for the foundation of rock and cross ties the trains would surely come of their tracks.

The human spirit is strong indeed. Just look at our history.  We’ve overcome huge obstacles and created new countries by traveling across the seas in ships.  Yet in all our strength we are still frail. We bend beneath a load of care. We sway with the sorrow of hard times and we are often derailed by troubles, trials and disappointments.  

Unless we have a secure foundation, the heaviness of life will derail us. Unless we have the right stuff underneath us we are a train wreck just waiting to happen. But when we are secure we can ride the rails of life and never lose hope. We may sway but we won’t come off the track that God has set for us.  

That sure foundation is made of Cross Ties. Our lives must be tied to the cross, nails and all. We must look to the cross as our source of salvation, but not just that. We must look to the cross for strength for every day and to get us to our ultimate destination of heaven. When we are certain an impending wreck is about to happen we can call upon the Lord and He is the everlasting strength to get us through.

Have you been traveling a hard road? Are you unsure of the foundation beneath you? Does the load of cares, hurts, disappointments and more threaten to derail your faith? Do you look at the circumstantial scenery ahead and cringe with fear?  You know that in your own strength you’re not going to make it. At best you’ll be sidelined and at worst your life will be wrecked and useless. 

Oh beloved, run to the Conductor of your life! He’s given you the Ultimate Foundation when Christ went to the Cross.  That foundation never needs repair and the ties never need replacing. One cross is all you will ever need to make it on the rail of life.  He promises to be your everlasting foundation beneath you, your strength when you are weakest, and your way through when barriers block your life. He speaks and the mountains must move. He rides with you, goes before you and travels behind you. He is the bridge over the rivers that would seek to you.  He is everything you will ever need to make it all the way to heaven. He promises that nothing will derail you as long as you look to Him. 

God’s love will hold you up and His care will keep you rolling as you live in the light of His Word. Oh how He loves you and oh how He cares about you and that’s why you can trust Him and ride with Him all the days of your life.

I Corinthians 1:18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.

I Corinthians 1:25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God's weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.

2 Corinthians 13:4 Although He was crucified in weakness, He now lives by the power of God. We, too, are weak, just as Christ was, but when we deal with you we will be alive with Him and will have God's power.

2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Isaiah 26:4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength (KJV)

Exodus 15:2 The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him.