Six Hours One Friday

I’m sitting at my kitchen table.  The house is quiet except for the sound of the sound machine coming over the monitor.  I’m scrolling through facebook and I see that one of my friends has shared some Igniter Media videos.

I know what today is.  It’s Good Friday.  All day I’ve seen tweets and been reminded of the hell that my Lord suffered for me today so many years ago.  And it’s now the critical three hours.  The time from noon to 3 when the world went dark.

And as I think about those hours I’m blown away.  Totally in awe of the sacrifice of my King.  My mind goes back to lessons I’ve heard over the years.  Graphic descriptions of the exact torture and beatings that Jesus had to endure.  Watching The Passion of The Christ and seeing in picture form what he went through for me.  Books and articles that I’ve read all describing in gruesome detail the pain and horror and unbelievable hurt that Jesus suffered on that day.

Who am I that the Lord of all the Earth, that the one that created everything, would freely accept this remarkable plan of redemption through the cross for me?  I am a sinner.  I fail daily, hourly, each minute.  No matter what good works I do on this earth, I can never make myself good enough to enter Heaven.  I am petty and selfish and jealous and bitter and someone who can not NOT sin even through all of my strongest efforts.

And yet, Jesus died for me.  He offered himself as a perfect gift for me.  A gift of salvation and eternal life and a gift of being set free from the bondage of sin so that I can be a part of his family.  And he gave this gift knowing full well all of my sins and misdeeds and failures.  He gave this gift freely just like he gave me free will, knowing that it would be up to me whether I would accept this gift and live a life for him or whether I would turn away from it.

One of my favorite books surrounding Easter is called Six Hours One Friday by Max Lucado and it says this about these six hours.

I agree with Max Lucado.  These six hours today are the most critical in history.  Sunday is important, but without Friday you can’t get to Sunday.  Without enduring the horrors of the cross, Sunday would never be possible.  Jesus literally endured hell for me and for you.  And all we have to do to accept that gift is to humble ourselves before him and accept his gift of salvation.

I pray with all of my heart that you are in the same place I am right now.  A place where you recognize your sinful nature and your need for a Savior and have turned to the only one who can save you, Jesus.  But if not I implore you to look again.  Look past your prior hurts with the church and with others.  Look past your fellow human’s feeble nature’s and look to the Cross.  Search and find the power that is in the cross.  Because if you go looking for it, you will find the answers.

One last quote from the book.  Max wrote that “God would give up his only son before he’d give up on you.” (p. 57)  Thank you Lord, for loving me in such an infinite way!