Good Friday?

This was my devotional today from the Upper Room. I thought it was too good not to share!


Romans 5:8 (New Living Translation)

8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.


DECADES ago Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross described a five-stage pattern in the way people deal with death and loss. In the first stage, "denial," we try to deny what is happening because we fear the truth. Humans try to avoid pain and fear. What brings us pleasure and makes us happy, we call good. And when the truth hurts, we often decide it must be evil.


The Passion of Jesus tells the truth about how sin (our living without God) can cause us to get good and evil all wrong. Our sin judges the Innocent One guilty. It betrays the One who trusts us with himself. It puts to death the Life-Giver.


In a culture that tries to be happy even if that requires living in denial, I feel I need to apologize for this week. We call it "Holy Week," though it is unholy. We call today "Good" Friday, though it is horrific. We shy away from the raw pain of this day; the largest church attendance of the year is on Easter, a good and happy day.


Maybe we should put a label on this week: Warning: Jesus' Passion may show you more than you want to see and tell you more than you want to know. Because Good Friday is not just about Jesus. It is also about us and the cost of our sin. That is the truth and there is no denying it.
Mike Ripski (Tennessee, USA)


Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for dying to free me from sin. Amen.


Thought for the Day

The painful truth of Good Friday makes possible our eternal Easter.