Idols

One of the first lessons in Sunday School, besides the fall of Adam and Eve, was the story of the Ten Commandments. Every Easter, I would watch Charlton Heston part the Red Sea. Back then, idols were just big golden calf statues. I soon learned why there were so many idol references in the bible. Idols are things you worship. They are things you put before God. Most of us probably don’t think we have idols, but we do. We have made money our idol. We have put our jobs before our family. We have put our pursuit of wealth before our personal wellbeing. We have made social media an idol. We have made pleasure an idol. The bible says to put no other god before me. It's like God knows that we will make things more important than our relationship with him. He knows that we will choose entertainment over bible study. He knows we will choose to talk to our friends before we pray. The only way to turn away from idols is to first recognize we have them.

Sabbath

It’s still Good Friday. He still died for our sins. He still rose on the third day. The world may still be distracted by this pandemic, but by his stripes we are still healed. . We may not fill the churches to capacity. We may not be able to worship collectively. But, It’s still the Sabbath!

Purpose

I can't imagine what God felt like to realize that he was born to die. We are all born to die, but to know that you will die tragically for a crime you didn't commit...that's hard. His death had a purpose. His pain was not in vain. His life was a ministry. Many of us don't understand why our paths have taken us through the valley instead of the mountaintop. We don't understand our pain. We don't know why we hurt or why we hurt others. Life seems like there is no rhyme or reason.

There is a purpose in every tear, in every misstep, in every mistake, and in every regret. There is a lesson in your heartache. There is a seed of maturity in the soil of your doubts and fears. There is a ministry in your series of unfortunate events. There is life in your spiritual death. There is purpose in your pain. 

Merry

We only hear words like joy and merry once a year around Christmas time when companies are trying to drive sales into the black. We never hear a nationwide push for joy and happiness or splendor any other time of year. We do not promote cheer year round. Why? Why don’t we have Merry Monday’s or Happy Friday’s? Why don’t we wake up excited to be alive another day? Why do we only have joy once a year? There is something to be celebrated today. There is someone who needs to know they are loved and appreciated today. Happy Friday. Be Merry!

Everlasting

As a kid, I never understood why "Good Friday" was called Good Friday when so much bad happened. I mean imagine being betrayed by a friend, arrested, beaten, and tried six times in two courts all to be sentenced to death for crimes you didn't commit. To add insult to injury, Jesus died to redeem the very people who deny/denied, reject/ rejected, and betray/betrayed him. My God. Jesus did something that has had an everlasting effect. His death and resurrection are celebrated on the first Sunday following the first ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or after the day of the vernal equinox every year. Every year, stores are filled with bunnies and eggs that have absolutely nothing to do with Christ's resurrection. Every year, non-church goers flood the pews to hear sermons of how Jesus died for our sins on an old rugged cross. Every year, I am reminded of an Everlasting God with an Everlasting love whose sacrifice opened redemption's door to Everlasting life. Happy Good Friday! Happy Passion Week! Happy Easter!