Good Friday – Day 39: Romans 12:14-18
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be arrogant but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Holy Week – Week 7: Sacrifice
Luke 9:23-25 says, “Then he said to them all, ‘If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit them if they gain the whole world but lose or forfeit themselves'” Practicing sacrifice, and it is something we must practice, is not a comfortable place to be. As Jesus said, it may involve shame, losing one’s life or lifestyle. And if we are called to follow Jesus’ example, we follow in the way of sacrifice. In preaching about the Good Samaritan, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But…the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’” Sacrifice involves putting the needs of others before our own. So, let us be able to reflect on the sacrifice we experience this week. What do we learn by going into, through and out the other end of suffering?
A Path Through Lent is a daily devotional series that leads us from Ash Wednesday to Resurrection Sunday in preparation for Easter. Lent is a 40 day period before Easter that symbolizes the 40 days that Jesus was in the desert praying and fasting. (Matthew 4, Mark 1, Luke 4). Watch for theses daily devotionals to orient your day and your week as we prepare for resurrection!