I love Christmas. Everything about it. Hustle, bustle, excitement, lights, sharing, food, gifts, the Reason, the music, the colors, everything. I love the length of time it takes to make the preparations. I love that we trouble ourselves with it. The arrival of the Christ-child sends me into the same frenzy as nesting before the birth of one of my own children. I think I am just compelled to do something to prepare for the celebration!
But there is no Christmas without Easter, and no Easter without Good Friday.
Today is the day we commemorate the day that He was was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him…. He bore the enormity of our sin, that we might live. If he had only bore my sin, I feel that the cross would have been too much for a blameless, sinless Lamb to bear. But he bore all sin. He died for it, suffered for it, endured it for all of us, across the span of time.
How heavy the load must have been.
Let not his death be in vain. He died so that we might live for righteousness.
Our response to the greatest act of pure love of all time must be a lifetime of devotion. Not a one-time decision. A life. A paradigm shift. A ‘not my will, but Yours’ attitude. Losing your life to find it in Him. It’s the only response that is appropriate.
Today I have been afforded a day off from the daily grind. I don’t have to rush. I don’t have tons of appointments or a tight schedule. I am given this day, this Good Friday. There is no dinner. No egg hunt. Nothing. Just time.
Time to reflect on Him. Time to repent. Time to prepare for Sunday. Lord let me decrease, so that you increase. So that when I enter His courts, it will be with thanksgiving in my heart and praise on my lips.
Lord, let the words of the old hymn ring true:
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion
For more than conqu’rors we are!Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Lord, thank you for Christmas. Lord, thank you for the cross, by Your wounds we are healed. And thank you for the promise of the coming Sunday.
Let my life be a reflection of my gratitude.
(1 Peter 2:24, Matthew 16:25, Luke 22:42, Psalm 100, Romans 8:39, John 3:30, Isaiah 53:5)
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