This One Week...

Today is Palm Sunday... did you go to church?  did the children process into the sanctuary waving palm fronds?  were there moving musical selections?  did the sermon stir your spirit?

For me, the answer is YES to all of the above.  But I noticed that in the midst of all this celebration, life went on as usual.  Familiar faces were recognized and greeted.  Laughs and jokes and compliments were exchanged.  Meetings were attended and service was performed.  Easter eggs were found and delicious tidbits were shared.

This is how my life can be... moments of the sacred sprinkled among the casual and mundane details of my days.  As the days wear on, I can become too busy (read: lazy) for regular quiet time.  I can become 'casual' about worship, entering as I would a luncheon with friends rather than the holy meeting place church is meant to be.  I can become wrapped up in ME and slowly lose track of the fact that it's all about HIM.

I will set aside This One Week to walk through the Scriptures with my Lord and Savior, experiencing afresh His last meal with His dear disciples, His betrayal, His prayer, His legal proceedings, His pain, His sacrifice that made my life possible, His shocking death, the loneliness of His absence, and the awe-filled wonder and joy of His Resurrection.  I will ask the Holy Spirit to give me new illumination as I study, and to lead me through the days to come with these truths in my mind and heart. 

This One Week can change everything...

John 12:12-19, The Message:

 ^12-15The next day the huge crowd that had arrived for the Feast heard that Jesus was entering Jerusalem. They broke off palm branches and went out to meet him. And they cheered:
   Hosanna!
   Blessed is he who comes in God's name!
    Yes! The King of Israel!
Jesus got a young donkey and rode it, just as the Scripture has it:

   No fear, Daughter Zion:
      See how your king comes,
      riding a donkey's colt.
 ¹⁶The disciples didn't notice the fulfillment of many Scriptures at the time, but after Jesus was glorified, they remembered that what was written about him matched what was done to him.
 ^17-19The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, was there giving eyewitness accounts. It was because they had spread the word of this latest God-sign that the crowd swelled to a welcoming parade. The Pharisees took one look and threw up their hands: "It's out of control. The world's in a stampede after him."