Getting the Whole Picture

March is here. Another month of the calendar has arrived and another Lenten season will draw to a close. It is so hard to believe that only a matter of weeks ago the greens were up for the Nativity! And now we are only a couple of weeks short of our annual trip to Calvary

As we marvel at this passage of time, it is also time for us to marvel at what all takes place. Jesus has set His face toward Jerusalem. He knew what was coming. He knew about every lash, every insult, every injustice that He would have to bear in His body for our sake. AND HE CAME ANYWAY!!

I never ceased to be amazed at the shear grace of Good Friday. Remember, grace is undeserved favor. It is God's Righteousness At Christ's Expense. He willingly endured everything so that we could have this righteousness. HE bore in His body the sins of the world, including yours and mine, so that I could have what was rightfully HIs: forgiveness, life and salvation! As crazy as this may sound, I love Good Friday. For it was there that MY savior uttered the most important words for my eternity: IT IS FINISHED. There once and for all, I was forgiven. I was pardoned like the criminal I used to be. It is Good Friday the makes everything possible.

And yet, we will have so many who flock to God's house on Easter Sunday. Now, don't get me wrong. I love it when the House of the Lord is filled and the people are hearing the Word of Life delivered to them from lectern and pulpit, auditory word and visible, Sacramental word. However, I also feel a bit saddened. For there are so many who only hear half the story! For without Good Friday, Easter is not as sweet. Yes it is still good news, but it is not fully appreciated. It is like the gourmet food that is eaten WITHOUT the cleansed palate. Sweets taste even sweeter after you have had something bitter to eat.

Good Friday is the celebration of that bitter taste that makes Easter all the more sweet. I would implore you to make the entire Holy Week part of your devotion this year. Mark the Triumphral Entry of Palm Sunday, the love and service of Maunday Thursday, the bitterness of Good Friday and the Sweetness of Easter morn. The Lord has made this is a package deal. Don't sell yourself short. Experience the whole thing this year!

A single brush stroke doesn't look like much on canvas. But the combination of brush strokes makes a masterpiece of our salvation. This year, see the whole picture. Experience again, as if for the first time, the wonder of the entire journey. You will be renewed. Renewed by the wonder of what God was willing to do for you, while you were yet a sinner.

Never forget that. And never forget that Jesus is the one who fixed it for you!

And He did it on the cross. On a Friday. To make Sunday a day that changed the world. See the whole picture that the Lord wants you to see this year!