I am sorry for being a bit absentee, dear ones. I have been experiencing a bit of a brain-cramp when it comes to writing. There are always thoughts, lessons, and words running wild in my head…much like a red bouncy ball on a sidewalk. The pressure to be able to write something profound for Holy Week hasn’t helped me in the least to put something concrete on paper…no, not at all.
Surely I could write something new or not yet said about Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem a week before His death! Maybe I could explore Zechariah’s prophecy,
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)
What about the Hosannas and the Palm Branches?? Certainly, there is something to be said that hasn’t been said about those. I have nothing…no new wisdom…no new inspiration.
The Holy Spirit, rather, has been working in the privacy of my thoughts and heart regarding holiness and obedience. What am I to do with Christ riding humbly on a Colt, knowing (as He knew then) that this was a funeral procession more than a triumphal entry? This road that would lead Him finally to Golgotha. Jesus was making His final entry into Jerusalem as the God who became Man. He would stand before men who would condemn Him to death! He would face the Roman scourge and the Roman nails. He would be beaten beyond the recognition of a man, His beard plucked, His brow pierced with a Crown of Thorns and all so that I might gain eternal life! And, so, through the washing away of my sins and the redemption of my soul through his precious blood, I have been called to live a Holy life.
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1 and 2)
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.” If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” (1 Peter 1:14 – 19)
Pursuing and living Holy in obedience to Christ means I must put away those sinful deeds. It means that I am no longer living in futility for myself. I have been bought with a price and that is the precious blood of Christ. I am no longer my own!
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19 and 20)
Therefore, pursuing and living and walking in obedience is something I strive for daily. Paul said in his letter to the Philippians,
“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12 – 14)
During this Holy Week, I pray that He will continue to help me pursue Holiness and that on Resurrection Sunday I can celebrate knowing that He promised to return — not as a Lamb to the slaughter, but as the Lion of Judah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, to whom all glory and honor shall be given.
“And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, ‘”KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”‘ (Revelation 19:16)
Glory to God! Hosanna!
Azalea Trees and Tea Rooms 