The old hymn ‘Kneel At The Cross’ has been echoing in my heart for days. I sense the LORD speaking to my heart some things that I need to embrace. Hopefully, by sharing you will find some things that speak to your hearts as well.

Kneel at the cross, Christ will meet you there
Come while He waits for you
Listen to His voice, leave with Him your cares
And begin life anew

Kneel at the cross, kneel at the cross
Leave every care, leave every care
Kneel at the cross, kneel at the cross
Jesus will meet you there

Kneel at the cross, there’s room for all
Who will his glory share
Bliss there awaits, harm can nary fall
Those who are anchored there

Kneel at the cross, give your idols up
Look unto realms above
Turn not away, to life’s sparkling cup
Trust only in His love

I ask that you consider some things in this old hymn that are revelatory for us in today’s world.

• The directive or invitation – – Kneel at the Cross – Submission.

• The pathway to the promise – Threefold: 

            Listen to His Voice – Leave Every Care – Begin Life Anew.

• The expansion – There is Room for Whosoever Will Come.  There we enter into His presence and experience His glory.  We are protected and have an anchor to keep us from drifting away into selfishness and soulishness.

• The warning – – Give Up Your Idols.  Anything that is placed before Christ.

• The invitation – Look upward and see His Kingdom.

• The completion – Drink at the fount of His love and trust only in Him and that love.

When I went to bed the other night, this song was on my heart.  I awakened in the night and it was on my mind.  I arose the next morning and it pursued me.  I went through the day and into the night and the next day with it echoing in my heart, mind, soul, and spirit.  It has been with me for days! I felt that the LORD was giving me an understanding of what I needed and where I was.  I also felt that He was revealing to me a condition that is prevalent in the Body of Christ today.  It is in seeing the need or the problem that we can find a solution and receive the answer.

What was I sensing?  Most believers have no problem, kneeling at the Cross.  We know that if we are to have Jesus in our lives we must come to the altar of submission and the Cross represents the Ultimate provision and sacrifice our Lord provided for our Salvation.  Yet, we find ourselves lacking and incomplete.  Why?

It is in the third part of the verse that we fall short and revert or never fully gain the victory of trusting in the arm of flesh or relying on our own understanding.  It is in the three parts of the pathway into the promise of which the song speaks.  We come to the Cross, kneel in submission, and meet Jesus and our sins are washed away.  There is joy in heaven, and we are born again.  That is marvelous, but it is not all that God desires for us.  Sadly, it is the extent of too many believer’s experience.

We are to Listen to His Voice.  The Bible makes it clear that obedience is the desire of God not sacrifice or great exploits done in our strength or power.  It is in listening to His voice we are enabled to LEAVE every care.  The Bible tells us that Faith comes by Hearing and Hearing by the Word of God.  When we know the Truth, embrace the Truth, and act upon the Truth we enjoy true freedom and deliverance from our prison of bondage. 

Do we LEAVE every care?  NO!  Few are able to achieve that place of trust and obedience.  We take it to the Lord, place it on the altar, and then when we leave His presence or the foot of the Cross, we take it with us.  You argue that you do not?  I argue that we do.  If you continue to have it occupy much of your thinking, after you have placed it in His hands and at the foot of the Cross, you have not left it.  If you play the tape over and over in your head after you have placed it at the foot of the Cross, you have not left it there.  If it occupies your consciousness and causes you anxiety, you have not left it there. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 directs us to Trust God, not our own understanding.  Too many attempt to explain and understand God with their minds rather than their spirits.  We do not enjoy the Abundant Life Jesus promised or the Kingdom that the Father desires us to experience because we fail to Listen and Trust Him enough to leave our cares in His hands.  We don’t trust Him with conditions, needs, or people enough to leave it with Him and allow Him to work it out in His way and time.  We try to help God and in helping God we make ourselves and our ability an idol transcending Him and His authority in our lives.

That’s why the song continues with the directive to Give our Idols up.  As long as anything holds our thoughts more than God, above God, or on the same level as God, we cannot look upward into His Realm of Victory.  We are not able to drink at the fount of His Love, Mercy, and Grace.  We cannot begin life anew because we are held in chains by our needs, desires, and abilities.

It is only as we truly TRUST Him and His Love can we kneel at the Cross, meet Jesus, and leave all our cares in His hands.  Has He ever failed?  Will He ever fail?  Can He fail?  If you answered NO, then why not try trusting Him for a change, and move out of a life that is under the control of the soul (mind, will, and emotions) and move into the Life of the spirit and become empowered by Him to walk (live) in total victory? 

Lord, I want your Presence.  I want your purposes to be fulfilled in my life.  I want to trust not what I see, but what you say.  I want to live and move and have being in You.  I want to give you a vessel you can use.  I desire to walk in total obedience to God in all things and at all times.

God bless you as you enjoy this wonderful day in Jesus!