Friday, April 02, 2010

Day 39 of Lent :: Good Friday

“So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said,
‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.’”
John 19:30

“Good Friday,” Virginia Stem Owens writes, “is the day when you can do nothing. Bewailing and lamenting your manifold sins does not in itself make up for them. Scouring your soul in a frenzy of spring cleaning only sterilizes it; it does not give it life. On Good Friday, finally, we are all, mourners and mockers alike, reduced to the same impotence. Someone else is doing the terrible work that gives life to the world."*

Today, we recognize we are powerless to change ourselves or even make amends for our sins. We stand in awe of the One who is suffering for our sake. We gaze at the One who willingly laid down His life, so that we may live. Today, we are reminded again, that He is everything that we need.

“As you sit and gaze,
it will be born in you
that only a crucified Savior
could meet your need.”
William Sangster

Prayer: Spend a few moments gazing at the One who suffered for your sin and died so that you may experience true life.

*Virginia Stem Owens, “Good Friday,” Christianity Today. (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/ aprilweb-only/43.0b.html).

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