Lately I’ve been on the lookout for X’s. They usually mark the spot.
I was riding down the highway on Liberty, coming back from Bailey Brothers Music, loving life. I had just eaten at Taco Bell, so I was stuffed, which is the natural state of a man who has just eaten at Taco Bell.
Up ahead was a car with its trunk wide open. Inside sat a suitcase with an X taped across it. Some people travel light. This lady was traveling optimistically.
So I pulled up beside her and told her that her trunk was open. She was very grateful. I like to think I saved that suitcase from a short, dramatic life on the shoulder of the road.
Another X. Another spot.
The X on His Hands
It isn’t the first time. When I met my friend Miles, he had X’s on his hands. That turned out well for me too. We’ve since become friends and struck up a wonderful long-distance correspondence. Some of his letters have ended up right here on WeRock TV, and they’ve done me more good than most sermons I’ve slept through.
So I’ve started paying attention.
A Cross on Its Side
Here’s the thing about an X. Tip it a little, and it’s a cross.
That’s not just a trick of geometry. The Greek letter chi looks like an X, and it’s the first letter of Christ’s name. That’s where “Xmas” comes from, so the folks who complain that it takes Christ out of Christmas can relax. He was there the whole time. And tradition holds that the apostle Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross, because he didn’t feel worthy to die the same way as his Lord.
Pirates used an X to mark buried treasure. God used a cross to mark the spot where heaven met earth, where the debt got paid, where the treasure was found. Only it turns out we were the treasure, and He was the one who did the digging.
Now when I see an X, I slow down. Sometimes it’s a lady with an open trunk. Sometimes it’s a man with something written on his hands who becomes a friend. Either way, it’s usually a spot where God is up to something, and He’s inviting me to pull over and pay attention.
Keep your eyes open. And if your trunk is open, I’ll let you know.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.”
Matthew 13:44 (KJV)
— JC
