Lord – Today, we celebrate the birth, death, and resurrection of Your Son, our Savior, who bore the Cross for us and for our salvation.

Religious scholars and historians may debate whether Christ could or could not have avoided being crucified on the Cross. Yet, unquestionably, Jesus, the human child of You, God, submitted to the Cross. Your love for Him and His love for us was Christ’s Cross to bear.

How many of us have our own crosses to bear?  

We suffer, hurt, and pray daily for those who struggle with mental illness, disease, drug or alcohol addiction, and uncontrolled anger.

We lose sleep and anguish over children, grandchildren, and friends who are in the darkness of depression. What can we do to make a real difference?  To shed Your light on them?  It is so hard to stand at the foot of their crosses and helplessly witness the suffering they bear.

In our imperfections and sin we say or do things which hurt others. Afterwards, we must ask You and those we have offended for forgiveness. In our walks of faith, we must not refrain from crawling up on the cross. We must humbly display our weaknesses and our human fallibility to be seen by others.

Some of us have troubled marriages. We must bear great pain and hardship in acceptance of what we need to do to save the marriage and honor the vows we made before You at the altar on wedding day.

Lord, on this Easter Day and every day thereafter, we must acknowledge that love is our cross to bear.

Lord, please strengthen us in the knowledge that, in Your Son’s example in bearing the Cross for us, we can face with hope and prayer the crosses we must bear in our own earthly lives. Christ gave His life for us. May we respond by giving our lives to Him by bearing the crosses of love. Amen

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Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker.  For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.