It Is Finished. But Hang Onto Hope.

There are just a handful of holidays that get my teary eyed – Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter, to be specific. These days often bring so many emotions for me as all of them are about what someone else has done for me. It almost sounds selfish to say it that way, but truthfully, they are all about giving up one’s life to save or impact another.

It’s Good Friday.

To think that MY sins, caused Christ’s death on the cross, brings me to tears when I truly think about the sacrifice He made. It wasn’t the sins of long ago. Well, yes, those too, but we often think, well, He died that many years ago for all the past sins, but no, He died for MY sins RIGHT NOW. It is just as if He died for me today, as it meant for someone who was living back then. The SAME sacrifice that was made back then, still holds true today.

What truths can we still hold onto that are still true today? The truths of Scripture. This is why absolute truth still DOES exist. And Christ’s death is just another part of it. All of eternity rested on that moment. The moment the curtain was torn in two, signaling the end of the Old Covenant and the beginning of a direct relationship with God. The moment He literally gave up His life, so that WE could live.

I think sometimes we lose sight of the enormity of this gift. For Christ to not only go through the most excruciating murder and crucifixion known to mankind, but to do it INNOCENTLY. To do it willingly. He came in as a baby, lived a perfect life in a sinful world, and then submitted himself to death? And death on a cross?

My friend, this is what our sins cost. Let this bring us to tears. Let this move us. Our sins matter. Every sin we have committed and will commit, put him there.

And yet He chose ME. He chose YOU. Because God loves you THAT MUCH.

So why is it called Good Friday? Because this is what ultimate and unconditional love looks like – Christ’s death for you. And for me.

If you are sitting her today, wondering where to turn in life, there is HOPE. There is JOY. There is FREEDOM. And it is found AT THE CROSS.

I ask you today, to simply let yourself shed a tear. (I can’t write this without them). Let what He’s done for you, overflow into your heart and into your life. Let it transform you.

As the darkness of this day feels overwhelming, hold onto the hope of what’s to come. God didn’t raise Christ from the dead immediately, but in His perfect timing. To teach us absolute truths about who God is so that we can learn to trust Him more fully.

Let today sink in.

But hold onto hope.

For Sunday is coming!