holy week
According to the Christian liturgical calendar - we have entered, the holiest week of the year. This week we commemorate the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. This is important when you consider that a little less than half of each of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament) is focused on this 7 day period. My time in the evangelical church didn’t seem to provide that kind of focus or attention to the events in this week. Too often we would go from the revelry of Palm Sunday to the celebration of Easter.
May we slow down this week and rather than get caught up in how to make our Easter Celebration bigger and better, let’s take each day in this week - one day at a time. Maybe you could take time to slowly read the Gospel accounts; a bit each day:
Mon - John 12:1-11 & Mark 14:3-9
Tue - Psalm 71:1-14 & John 12:20-36
Wed - Psalm 70 & John 13:21-35
Thu - Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19 & John 13:1-17 & 31-35
Fri - Psalm 22 & John 18:1-19:42
Sat - Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16 & Matthew 27:57-66
Sun - Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 & John 20:1-18 & Luke 24:1-12
As you read - take enough time to hear the Living Word (is there an issue God might be pointing out or an invitation to respond too?). As you read - take time to reflect on your own life in light of these events (if you looked at your life from the perspective of Jesus - what might you see?). As you read - find a phrase or word that you can “take with you” as a prayer for the remainder of the day.
Enter this holiest of weeks and walk again with Jesus, one day at a time.
Doug thanks for the reminder that we need to take time out for God so he can author life change within us. Of course not just this week but every week. Thanks for being a reminder in an often busy place.
nice phrase, “author life change within”… reminds us that it is often more important that God’s Word read/write us than the opposite… us merely reading through God’s Word.
great thoughts as usual, doug. as i started reading, i was already thinking how the evangelical church largely ignores such things… thanks for reminding me of the importance of this time.