Reverent Sadness

Today, for Christian belief, is Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday of Holy Week. It is the day commemorating the Washing of the Feet(Maundy) and the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with his disciples right before he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.

This night was a very long and painful night for Jesus, not because his torture had started but because of the betrayal and desertion by his followers, the disbelief of Jewish leaders, and the weight of what was to come.

The following day was Friday. We call it Good Friday, not that it was a happy day but because Jesus willingly suffered and was crucified on the cross for atonement of sin. But we must fully understand its purpose. My devotion this morning from Oswald Chambers says it where I can understand it best so I share that with you.

The Cross of Christ is the revealed truth of God’s judgment on sin. Never associate the idea of martyrdom with the Cross of Christ. It was the supreme triumph, and it shook the very foundations of hell. There is nothing in time or eternity more absolutely certain and irrefutable than what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross— He made it possible for the entire human race to be brought back into a right-standing relationship with God. He made redemption the foundation of human life; that is, He made a way for every person to have fellowship with God. Oswald Chambers

The cross was not something that man did to Jesus, it was the reason Jesus came in the first place. To redeem our souls. We can’t think of the cross as a cross of man, for it is a cross of God…for man because His love for man is so strong, even when we don’t deserve it.

The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ. The reason salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so much. The Cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and where the way to life was opened. But all the cost and pain of the collision was absorbed by the heart of God. Oswald Chambers

Let us never forget the extent that God went to to assure that we could remain in His care and ultimately join with Him on that heavenly day with the multi-million voice choir as we praise His name.

As you go through these next few days of the Easter season, remember the unfathomable kindness God has shown us and try to show kindness to others.

A Haiku of a Foreboding Day

last supper — The last chance of teaching

Eating, Relaxing

Foreboding yet to come in

Betrayal waiting

As we remember the events of the last few days of Jesus life, lets us bow in prayer for what he has done for us. Even in His death, His kindness was still true. Let us remember to always reflect the kindness he shared.

cross

The Fun Side of Easter

We approach this new season with a lightness in our hearts. New life comes up from the ground as new flowers begin to show their faces. The air is warmer and we enjoy outside more. We open the windows to breath in fresh air and thankful for the brightness around us.

Where we have fun at Christmas while we celebrate His birth, the celebration of His rising at Easter brings us all new life, new hope and the strength to carry on. Even if you are not a believer in Christ, the understand of what it means is somewhat familiar to all. It is fun to share the newness of life about the resurrection and be able to relate it to children with the newness of spring.

New flowers who have been dead all winter are not waking up to new life parallel with the resurrection story. The trees and bushes coming back to life with the new leaves of new life.

New wildlife babies are born representing the newness of life as created by our Father in heaven.

Then there are those who love to decorate their home to show a newness of life or the welcoming of spring, like door wreaths.

wreath

This pair of purple house finches are the first to visit my feeder this year. They are really pretty.

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I also like to show off some of my mothers fun Easter stuff as it makes me smile and remember the fun parts of her. The silly waving rabbit family I painted for her when I was in college.

So while Easter is a celebration that should never be taken lightly for its true meaning, we can enjoy the newness of spring as it also bring us new life and new hope for the coming year. And as you take in the new life, let it send out kindness roots that spreads kindness seedlings wherever it goes.