A current television commercial shows a guy going off a tall waterfall in a kayak. He screams as he bounces against the rocks along the wall of the canyon and finally splashes in the waters below. A couple standing by their go-anywhere-climb-any-mountain-cross-any-river vehicle have been watching the strange sight. He turns to his female companion, shakes his head and says, “What was he thinking?”

    Sometimes when I read the story of the cross I wonder, “What was He thinking?” When I allow myself to consider the events that led up to the cross — the life that was lived, the good that was done, the suffering He endured, the words that were spoken — I wonder, “What was He thinking?” When I ponder the plan that God had from the beginning of time to be with His people and realize the way His people have rejected Him, ignored Him, and disappointed Him, I wonder, “What was He thinking?”

He was thinking of me.

    When I delve deeper, read further, look closer, listen more intently, I realize what He was thinking. He was thinking of me. When He created the world with all the splendor and beauty, He was thinking of me. When He created the animals, the trees, the ocean, the mountains, the birds that fly, the sun and the sky, He was thinking of me. When He issued laws explaining right from wrong that were designed to make life better, He was thinking of me. When He entered the hearts of men and gave them words to write that would be read for centuries explaining what He was thinking, He was thinking of me. When he sent His one and only son into the world to show us how to live, He was thinking of me. When this same son, the one He loved, carried a cross up a lonely hill and died on that same cross for the sins of the world, He was thinking of me. When they laid Him in the tomb, He was thinking of me. When He rose up from that tomb on the third day, He was thinking of me. When He invited sinners to lay their burdens down and find rest in Him, He was thinking of me.

    Like the couple on the mountain trail watching a guy go over the falls in a kayak, I don’t know what he was thinking. But, when I “turn my eyes upon Jesus and look full in His wonderful face” and realize what He has done for me, I don’t have to wonder. He was thinking of me. You don’t have to wonder what He was thinking. He was thinking of you.

God chose him for this purpose long before the world began, but now in these final days, he was sent to the earth for all to see. And he did this for you. (1 Peter 1:20 NLT)