READ: GALATIANS 3:13; COLOSSIANS 2:13-15; HEBREWS 12:1-3

Growing up, my siblings and I played a lot of baseball together. When I was batting, there was no better feeling than to have the bat connect with the ball. Whether the ball went flying or it was a ground ball going out in front of the plate, it just felt good to have the two connect. I remember my brothers telling me, “Keep your eye on the ball,” encouraging me as they were pitching to me. It was only by really staring at the baseball and focusing on hitting it that my bat would stand a chance of connecting with it.

As Christians, it’s important for us to keep our eye on the cross. Without all that happened on that cross, we would have nothing. If Jesus hadn’t come and lived among us, fully God and fully human, to suffer and die on the cross for our sins, we wouldn’t have salvation. We would still be dead in our sins. We wouldn’t have hope, we wouldn’t have peace.

On the days when we feel overwhelmed because of mistakes we’ve made or sins we’ve committed, we can look at the cross and remember Jesus loves us that much, and He has already provided us with forgiveness.

On the days when life on earth feels too stressful, we can keep our eye on the cross and remember that this life isn’t all that we have been given. Just as Jesus rose from the dead, we will one day be raised from the dead to live with Him forever in renewed creation. And until that day, He promises to be with us, and He invites us to be part of the good work He is doing in and around us. But we can only do this good work as we rest in God’s great love—shown on the cross.

The only way you can get a hit in baseball is by watching the ball and really keeping your gaze fixed on it. As we go through life, the Holy Spirit empowers us to keep our gaze fixed on the cross and remember all that Jesus has done for us. • Emily Acker

• What are some practical ways we can take time in our everyday lives to remember Jesus’s death on the cross and His victorious resurrection?

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NIV)