The Place of the Cross
by Malcolm Wood
I really like ceramic tiles in bathrooms and kitchens. They’re attractive, but also hard wearing and easy to clean. But if they’re not laid carefully their whole appearance is spoilt. If they’re laid on the wall haphazardly, without being lined up properly, maintaining true vertical and horizontal lines and uniform gaps between individual tiles, then the whole effect is ruined.
Anyone who lays tiles, whether a professional or an amateur, soon discovers that a slight deviation from the true vertical or horizontal line at the beginning of a row, if not corrected, becomes a considerable gap by the end of the row.
In the past I used bits of wood or folded card as spacers to hold the tiles in line while the adhesive set. But in recent years I’ve discovered an easier and more reliable way to keep tiles in line. It’s the cross.
It’s now possible to buy packets of specially designed spacers to ensure that tiles are laid ‘square’ to one another, ensuring a uniform gap between tiles, resulting in rows which maintain their true vertical and horizontal line.
These spacers are small pieces of plastic formed in the shape of a cross. They are placed at the corner of each tile to keep it in line and then eventually covered over by the grout which fills the gap between the tiles.
Our lives can so easily go off track for one reason or another and then we deviate from God’s ideal for our lives. We need to keep the cross of Jesus as our reference point, central in our lives, remembering what He did for us there. We need to remember all He made available by dying for us. If we do this we’ll discover that He can help us deal with those things which cause us to go astray, and He’ll help us to get back in line again.
The tile spacers are hidden but their effect can be seen by all. May the effect of the cross working in our lives be evident to all, to God’s glory.
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for the Cross. Thank You for dying for me. Help me to appreciate all You did there for me. Help me to appropriate all You made available, for Your glory and the blessing of others. Amen.
Malcolm Wood and his wife Anna became part of the Ellel family as House Managers at Ellel Grange in 1990. Since then they have been involved with many aspects of the developing Ministry. From 2001 until 2015 they were Directors of Ellel Scotland where they hosted several International Schools and Operation Blairmore and helped pioneer the exciting Creative Inspiration Weeks. They have three sons.
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