The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Friday

Today is "Good Friday." I can't help but cringe at the name for this religious day. To call it "Holy Friday" is one thing. But Good Friday? Good? The day they crucified our Savior, good?

If you've read the account of Jesus crucifixion in the Bible, you know it was a bad day.

Matthew 27:28-30 -- They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.

"Struck him on the head again and again." With a staff (that is a stick, pole or rod). Again and again. Good Friday?

They mocked him and forced him to carry his own cross. He was hung there. He experienced great pain, and he eventually died there. Good Friday?

He was put into a tomb.

However, soon came Sunday, and a great and marvelous thing happened. Jesus rose from the dead! Because of this we may have eternal life if we believe. See the cost (wages) of sin is death, eternity away from God. But Jesus lived a sin-free life. He didn't deserve death. But on that terrible Friday he died, paying the price for our sins. And when he rose again, he opened the doors to heaven so that all us sinners could have not death, but eternal life.

That was a very Good Sunday. Resurrection Sunday. Easter Sunday. That Friday was an important day, the day our Savior died for us. But to me, the GOOD day, the great day was Sunday.

John 11:25 -- Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies."



*This is a reprint of my Good Friday post last year.

What Have You Done for Me Lately?

What have you done for me lately?
ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah. What have you done for me lately?
ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah.
What Have You Done for Me Lately, Janet Jackson, 1986

What does your prayer list look like? Mine is a hodge-podge for family and friends, health concerns, job concerns, wants, needs, and requests. God does tell us to bring everything to him in prayer, but in thanksgiving. (Phil 4:6).

Thanksgiving probably doesn't enter our mind as we are praying for that person with cancer, or who lost their job, or who is getting a divorce. If we're not thankful, then bitterness can sink in.

We look to God, and think, "What have you done for me lately?" When God doesn't answer prayers the way we want, we can even get angry. Why God!??! Haven't I served you? Haven't I loved you? Haven't I...?

Here is the truth. God sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us to redeem us. We no longer have to spend eternity separated from God, but may have eternal life with Him. If He never did one additional thing for us on this earth, THAT ONE thing was enough.

Don't get caught up in a "what have you done for me lately" thinking. God did enough. Everything else from there is blessing. Count your blessings, and give thanks.