GOOD Friday

My mom asked me when I was in California if I could tell spring was coming to South Carolina. I hadn't noticed anything yet and thought it was still due to the frost that we have overnight many times. But now that I'm back in SC, I can definitely tell that spring is coming! First of all, there are these trees that have TONS of white flowers all over them - they are beautiful - especially when there's a whole bunch of them all together. But also, when I drive to and from school up Monticello Road where it's woods on either side, there are the most beautiful trees that have bright purple flowers on them. They are gorgeous. And so in certain places there are trees with these purple flowers budding, and then other trees with orange flowers, or yellow flowers, and then the white flowers. It's extremely beautiful. It's been fun to delight in God's creation.

I went to the Good Friday service at First Presbyterian yesterday, where Sinclaire Ferguson preaches. His sermon was good, as usual, although I have to admit I kept getting distracted for a number of reasons. But one particular thing did stick with me, probably because I've been thinking about it a lot recently. He kept saying how joyful this day was. He preached through all of Luke 23 and went through the different reactions of the people Jesus encounters in this passage and Jesus' response to each of them. One of the people (v. 27 - 31) were the group of men and women that followed after him weeping and mourning. And Jesus says quite a lot to them. In fact, I had put a question mark in my Bible by this passage, I think when I read through the Gospels a couple of summers ago. S.F. said that Jesus was saying that this is a good day for people - a day of freedom, grace, and love. It is not a day of judgment on people. That day comes later and then those that don't trust in what Jesus does this good day will weep and mourn and rightfully so. But today, even though Christ dies an excruciating death, is a good, good day.

And the Lord continues to bring to mind how joyful and delightful life should be, that He wants it to be that way for all. And that He is the most delightful. And that weeping and mourning over the absence of goodness and joy and love in this world is trusting in God. It's saying that without God's goodness and beauty and truth, this world and this life is crap. And so we mourn over the absence of joy. Interesting to think about, huh? (Rob Bell goes into this a little in his book [see review below] but the Lord has also been bringing it to mind in other areas of my life.) So rejoicing is not a command because if you don't do it you're disobeying and sinning. It's simply God's greatest desire for us. And the most joyful we can be is surrounded by all that is good and all that is Him.

Which reminds me of one other thing that I was going to say... the first time I saw the Passion of Christ, I went to the theatre alone because everybody else had seen it already. I went in the middle of the day and there weren't too many other people in the theatre. Of course, I was somber most of the time, and crying my brains out when Peter denied Christ as I related fully to him. But, I tell you, when I left that theatre I had the hugest smile on my face. I was practically dancing all the way to my car. Jesus is the best thing that could have ever happened to me!