The Commitment of the Son
36”x48” Acrylic on 1 1/2” Gallery Canvas
God, the Father of all Creation never asks us to do, what He Himself is not willing to do, and so is also the character of His Son. Thinking back to when The Lord called Abraham to take His son Issac to a hill to be sacrificed. Issac, was so willing to do just as his father asked. These were two men of incredible character and of the upmost reflection of surrender. It inspires me in my walk to think of how much they loved the Lord. Just thinking of how committed they were, to beckon to His will with their very lives.
I created this painting just before Holy Week of 2022. It was a late night in my studio and I was working through some different ideas I had in my head. I had already created a practice piece of this one, but with a single cross. My apprentice Rebecca was in the studio giving me some feedback on my art pieces and I loved what she had to say.
She brought up, that in those days the Roman soldiers would carry out executions in this way, on the crosses…and then she said “He had to have passed by some of them at some point in His life.” It hit pretty deep. What would that have been like for Jesus, to pass by as men were being crucified in the same way He would one day be crucified. More than a premonition, He knew exactly what was ahead of Him. And like Issac, He was willing to take every step leading to that moment.
This piece brings me to my knees, in the core of my heart, when I think of the sweet and devastating surrender of my Savior. That His love and His devotion would lead Him to a place of pain and death. His body, completely broken for the world that He loved so much, His blood spilled out for the sins of those who did not yet know Him. This piece speaks of the Yes He gave, long before that day ever came.
May our hearts be strengthened, may our lives be driven evermore into the deepest place of devotion to the Creator of the universe. That like Abraham and Isaac we would discover, that life is really death without Him…and that to truly live, we have the opportunity to joyfully and willingly lay our God given lives down at the cross each day we are alive. To say yes to God in this wild and crazy adventure of life. To desire and crave with all of our hearts to fully live in the light of His presence in complete abandonment of this dying world.
My Prayer
Take our lives Lord. May they flicker like dancing flames before you. Short lived are they in your sight. But may they please you each day, may they grow ever brighter for you…Until the day we are one with you, and forever in your presence. Help us to live our lives like fireworks for your name…and like fireworks may you save the best for last…may our final hours be hours that bring you honor and glory in ways we never could have imagined.
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