Saturday of Holy Week: a quiet bridge between the somber sorrow of Good Friday and the unleashed joy of Easter. Tradition tells us it is the day when Jesus' body lay in the tomb while his soul descended into hell. A day when his followers were in stunned confusion over the events of the preceding day before the glory of the resurrection was revealed. For us who follow Him today, a day of quiet contemplation and preparation, both spiritual and physical, for Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day, we know is following. This passage of scripture is surely included in most people's top 10 list from the Bible and in it I see shades of Holy Saturday. As Christ was beaten and tormented and ultimately crucified, his strength drained slowly from his dying human body until, we are told, he cried out to His Father "into Your hands I commit my spirit" and breathed his last. But was that the end? Of course not, as we proclaim in the creeds of our faith, He rose again in glory and now sits at the right hand of God the Father. But Christ did not win that final victory over death for himself alone. NO! He did it to save us and reconcile us to our Heavenly Father that all could be saved. In a like manner, while our suffering in this life cannot be compared to that of Jesus, at times it can be great and it can drain us of our strength and resolve. But this beautiful passage assures us that if we are waiting on The Lord, we too shall be victorious. We are promised renewed strength to the extent of soaring on eagles wings. I have had the privilege of watching eagles in flight and I can tell you there are few images that evoke the combination of strength and ease that majestic sight does. Wings spread wide, they rise up on the thermals soaring for impossible lengths of time on a single flap of those powerful wings. This is a promise to lay hold of. Our Heavenly Father longs to carry us thus and to empower us to run and not be weary and walk and not faint as we serve Him and wait in His presence for renewal. Let us remember this when we are tempted to believe we are so weary we have nothing left to give. Come into His presence and be lifted up, strengthened and renewed as we wait on The Lord on this "quiet" day for the victory we will celebrate tomorrow.
Prayer for today: Father God, You are so gracious and we thank you for Your many mercies. On this day between death and victory, call to your children and help us set aside time to be with You being renewed as we prepare to celebrate Jesus' resurrection and victory over death. We ask in His name.AMEN!
Confession for today: I confess that as I wait upon The Lord and align myself to His purposes for me I will be strengthened for any task He assigns. My God is not known for calling the equipped but rather for equipping those He calls. I declare this by faith in Jesus. AMEN!
For Geri
3 comments:
Thank you Tracey for your diligence in completing this Lenten devotional. Today's edition was also thought provoking. The imagery you used was beautiful. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself. In Jesus' name we pray,
Evelyn
AMEN
marilyn
Thanks ladies...it was fun. In fact I got up this morning (when I would typically write) and kinda didn't know what to do with myself in devo time ;-)
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