The Carpenter & Our Choice—two poems on the cross

The Carpenter

bloodied
to be set apart from ordinary use,
the Carpenter hallowed
His final wood and nail
with use enough to outlast time.

fitting us, joining us,
one piece at a time,
the Master Craftsman
cuts, planes, sands and fits
eternity into all His work.

 

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Our Choice

Lord, lead us not into temptation   . . . Matthew 6:13

Hang there!
When your sister spits on you
and insists her way is true
and your brain starts scheming sweet revenge
and planning what to do—
forget it.
Hang.

When anger burns your hardened heart
and nerves churn fast
to vindicate your pride
and poker faced
you play the cards
intent to win—
throw ‘em on the table
and your self on the cross
and hang.

When you’re squished and stepped on,
betrayed and sick from eating loss,
when you’re tempted to retaliate
and determined to be boss,
don’t.
Set your soul on things above
and love.
Hurl yourself at the cross.

If greed begins to tingle
and lusts grow hot to singe your skin,
if yearnings ache
for quick delights and tasty fakes
or self inflates your eyes
and asserts to over take,
slam on your brake;
kill the crawling snake
and run to where you’re safe.

Get down low,
Hang up high.
Whatever you do,
Cry out to die.

Fix your eyes on the innocent Man,
the bonny man,
the man above all men.
He was man, a human man—
mere man come down from God—
God who willed to live in body,
willed to give His flesh.
Fix your eyes on Him.
In human love with human flesh
He hung and died.
He felt our sin.
He won His victory on a cross—
we win ours by faith in Him.

So hang in there.
and die again,
as long as sin defies, defiles
and tries to stifle life,
fight all that drains, delays, dismisses,
all that lies, denies God’s ways;
take it to the cross
to the cross, oh puny heart of mine,
hang there,
with His brave-heart,
hang.

 

Our Choice and The Carpenter are from Witness, an unpublished manuscript of poems © by author.