Rice and Light

Greens are good for the body. I'm too poor to purchase them regularly, so I've taken to sprouting cast off rice. My first attempts involved sticking the rice in a dark cupboard. It didn't do very well. At Dad's advice, I tried putting it on the window sill. It perked up nicely, and I've been feeding on it ever since.
Christ is the Light of the world. We can't do anything apart from the power He provided through His death. Focusing on Christ's sacrifice at Calvary will give us the perspective to make the sacrifices that He asks of us. It wouldn't do to take up the wrong cross.
Sadly, we rarely consider the Cross. The Beatitudes are a more frequent sermon topic than Golgotha, and when Christ's last hours are mentioned, we often spend more time considering Peter's sin than the Cross. Christ gave us communion so we'd remember His death, but we only celebrate it once in 13 weeks. What's so special about 13? It seems foolish (not to mention unlucky) to relegate communion to the sidelines. When we do go through with it, we don't share the cup, pair off instead of washing everyones feet, and keep on all our fancy duds instead of donning simple towels.
Our public failings are often a reflection of personal emptiness. EGW says that the cross should be the focal point of our devotions, but we usually read a few parables, a Psalm, or the prayer of Jabaz and leave the Cross for Easter weekend.
Like my rice, we're supposed to die, but we can't expect our sacrifice to produce anything unless we are looking to the Light of Christ's sacrifice. Let's get out of the cupboard and start growing.