“And the sign says, 'Long-haired freaky people need not apply.' So I tucked all my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why. He said 'You look like a fine, upstanding young man - I think you'll do.' So I took off my hat and said, 'Imagine that! Huh... me, working for you!' … Signs, Signs, Everywhere there's signs. Blocking out the scenery. Breaking my mind. Do this! Don't do that! Can't you read the signs?” (Five Man Electrical Band)
We see signs everywhere. A sign next to a door indicates a home is protected by a security system. Another sign warns the occupants are armed. Still another sign warns that trespassers will be shot. And then there are those signs people use to voice their political, religious and personal views: bumper stickers, sports teams, memorials, etc.
However, the most important signs in our lives are indicative of how we live. We might wear a “What Would Jesus Do” pin everyday; carry our Bibles around, and have every outward sign that we are a Christian. But just because the signs are there on the outside does not mean Christ rules our hearts. As time wears on, the signs of ungodliness worsen. The signs pointing out the last days are right in front of us; we see the signs every day. “For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 3:2-7).
There is a huge different in displaying a sign and actually adhering to the contents of a sign. Are we carrying a sign of the cross or are we actually carrying the cross itself?