I just walked in the door, settled into the world's deepest couch, and put my feet up.
I've had that Bible verse running as a refrain through my head, and I had to look up the reference to find that it was spoken by John the Baptist in John 3:30. That's same John who, in Luke 7:28, Jesus called the greatest man who had ever been born.
If the greatest man who had ever been born knew that he must become less, shouldn't I, too?
It's the eve of Good Friday. It's time to take my eyes off myself and put them on the One who is greater.
My parents always encouraged us to spend time on Good Friday worshiping Jesus. They kept us home from school and gave us a quiet day to think and pray, and watch videos about Jesus. (Or Moses. Because The Ten Commandments is a nice, long, religious movie if you have three kids to keep busy for a whole day.)
I'm looking forward to tomorrow, a day of reflection, refreshment, and reminders for my soul.
Can I invite you to join me tomorrow in reading some stories about Jesus? You can find the Good Friday story starting here, in Luke 22, but any Jesus stories will do.
Let's turn our eyes from the temporal to the eternal,
From humanity to majesty,
From man to God.
It's a good Friday, friends.
All is quiet inside. Outside, a low, golden moon is creeping up over the streetlights.
My mind and my eyes are so tired. I worked a longer day today so I could take some time off tomorrow, and I think my sleepiness has wrecked my attention span. I'm thinking about e-mails, about laughs that I had with my patients today, about what my mom might be making for Easter, about when I might need to get gas.
I, I, I, I, I.
These days, I've been thinking way too much about myself; about my opinions and my preferences and my gifts and my future and my past, and mostly I think there have been lots of times this week where my pride has gotten the best of me.
"HE must become greater; I must become less."
"HE must become greater; I must become less."
I've had that Bible verse running as a refrain through my head, and I had to look up the reference to find that it was spoken by John the Baptist in John 3:30. That's same John who, in Luke 7:28, Jesus called the greatest man who had ever been born.
If the greatest man who had ever been born knew that he must become less, shouldn't I, too?
It's the eve of Good Friday. It's time to take my eyes off myself and put them on the One who is greater.
My parents always encouraged us to spend time on Good Friday worshiping Jesus. They kept us home from school and gave us a quiet day to think and pray, and watch videos about Jesus. (Or Moses. Because The Ten Commandments is a nice, long, religious movie if you have three kids to keep busy for a whole day.)
I'm looking forward to tomorrow, a day of reflection, refreshment, and reminders for my soul.
Can I invite you to join me tomorrow in reading some stories about Jesus? You can find the Good Friday story starting here, in Luke 22, but any Jesus stories will do.
Let's turn our eyes from the temporal to the eternal,
From humanity to majesty,
From man to God.
It's a good Friday, friends.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
(Hebrews 12:1-2)
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
(Hebrews 12:1-2)
No comments:
Post a Comment