Old rugged cross

 Here is a scripture-infused poem honoring God through the lens of "The Old Rugged Cross," weaving divine promises with the hymn’s enduring themes of sacrifice, redemption, and eternal hope:

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### **Beneath the Old Rugged Cross**  

*A Prayer in Verse*  

On that hill, where shadows fell,  

Stood the cross—my soul’s farewell  

To the chains that bound me tight:  

**"He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross."**  

*(1 Peter 2:24)*  

*Emblem of suffering, of shame undeserved,*  

Yet Love’s purest anthem through ages preserved.  

The hands that carved galaxies, bleeding and torn,  

Wore my sorrow as thorns.  

**I cling to this old rugged cross—**  

Where mercy flowed down to reclaim the lost,  

Where the Lamb breathed His last in the gathering dark,  

And split history’s arc.  

**"God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross."**  

*(Colossians 2:13–14)*  

No jeweled throne, no gilded frame—  

Just rough wood that bears my Savior’s name.  

Despised by the world, yet to me, it is sweet:  

The storm where His grace and my brokenness meet.  

**"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."**  

*(Galatians 6:14)*  

*I’ll cherish this cross—its grief, its cost—*  

Till earthly trophies fade and are lost.  

For the blood-stained beam, where my ransom was sealed,  

Is the fortress where death’s claims were repealed.  

**"He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in the cross."**  

*(Colossians 2:15)*  

Then one day, beyond Jordan’s tide,  

I’ll lay down this cross where my Lord has died,  

And stand in the light of the throne that awaits,  

Crowned not by merit, but mercy’s great gates.  

**"I will exchange it someday for a crown—**  

The one You prepared when You bore my fall down."  

**"Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life."**  

*(Revelation 2:10)*  

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### Key Scriptures Weaved:  

1. **1 Peter 2:24** – *Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice.*  

2. **Colossians 2:13–14** – *Debt canceled at the cross.*  

3. **Galatians 6:14** – *Boasting only in the cross.*  

4. **Colossians 2:15** – *Victory over evil through the cross.*  

5. **Revelation 2:10** – *The crown of life for the faithful.*  

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### For Reflection:  

- **Meditate on the paradox**: The cross—a tool of torture—became our tree of life (Acts 5:30).  

- **Whisper the refrain**: *“I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it someday for a crown.”*  

- **Respond in surrender**: *“Jesus, I place my brokenness beneath Your blood-stained beams. Transform my shame into Your glory. Amen.”*  

> *“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,  

> but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”*  

> **—1 Corinthians 1:18**  

May this truth anchor your soul: *The cross was not God’s defeat—it was Love’s decisive triumph.* ✝️