Which Cross Is Mine?

Our pastor used this as an illustration this past Sunday:

After they all had been tried, found guilty, and sentenced to die, 26 Christians were marched to the place where crudely made crosses stood. Almost three months earlier, they had been arrested in Kyoto Japan and charged with following Christ. One of the convicts name was Ibaragi Kun.

Seeing how young he was, an official took him aside and urged him to recant his faith to save his life. Looking the official in the eye the young man said confidently, “Sir, it would be far better if you yourself became a Christian, then you could go to heaven with me.”

The officer stared, startled by the young man's faith. Finally, the young man asked, “Sir, which cross is mine?”

The bewildered official pointed to the smallest of the 26 crosses. The young man ran to the cross, knelt before it, and embraced it. When the soldiers began to nail his hands and feet to the cross, he did not cry out in pain. He courageously accepted the path God had laid out for him.

The crucifixion of the 26 Christians on November 23, 1596, was the beginning of a period of intense persecution of Christians in Japan. Over the next 70 years, as many as one million Japanese Christians would be killed for their faith. Many would embrace their own crosses to follow the example of Ibaragi Kun, a very mature 12 year old boy.

What crosses has God put into your life to refine and purify your faith?