Holy week?

Have you thought about how you'll spend holy week; this week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday?  For the average American, we don't call it "holy week" we call it "spring break"; a time for family vacations, sports practices and sleeping in (if you're a mother of school-aged children).  And while these activities are important in our lives, the busyness they create often causes us to miss the significance of the passion week; the week Jesus Christ demonstrated his unfailing love for us by dying to pay the penalty for our sins. Here are a few ideas to help you focus on spiritual things this week:

• Maybe do a word study on suffering so that you can better understand what Christ suffered for you;
• Maybe re-watch Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” on Friday evening (Good Friday);
• Maybe go online and print up an article on Christ’s last words from the cross and their significance;
• Maybe re-read one of your oldie but goodie Christian books;
• Maybe carry around a nail in your pocket so that every time it pokes you, you’ll remember that Christ was poked for you;
• Maybe give up something you love for the week (dessert, TV, coffee, wine, etc.) remembering that Christ denied himself the enjoyment of earthly pleasures for you;
• Maybe offer to serve someone (or something) sacrificially as a reminder that Christ served you on the cross.

Whatever you do, just remember: Offer the act to God in the name of Jesus AND do it so that God's magnificence (the fact that his love was so immense that he gave us His only son as sacrifice for us) will be magnified and glorified.  That's the point you know:  That Jesus' life and love is imaged forth in us.

Blessings my faithful readers.  Thank you for listening to my heart each week.