rescue. (& reasons 25-35 on the lent list...)

Tomorrow is the day. Good Friday. The day we get to contemplate and celebrate the cross. Truthfully, I cringe at the reminder that I should be doing it every day, but am grateful for the chance to do it corporately tomorrow.

I will be getting to hang out with some children that I get the privilege of watching while their parents are in big church! As I've been praying and pondering through how the evening will go, one word has stuck with me: RESCUE. It's all about RESCUE. The cross is all about RESCUE. Good Friday is all about RESCUE. So, that's what we're going to talk about. RESCUE. I mean, even a child gets the concept of rescue. We'll see pictures of life preservers and helicopters and rescue dogs and ambulances. Then, we'll talk about what situations you might find yourself in and need rescuing. And after we've talked through all those symbols of rescue, we'll talk about the greatest symbol of all.......the cross.

I don't know if you've ever heard of The Jesus Storybook Bible, but if you have children (and in my opinion, even if you don't!), you need to get online and order it right now. It's stories from the Bible retold in such beautiful language that I have yet to read one without chills. Just put "The Jesus Storybook Bible" in your search engine and you'll find it. It was written by Sally Lloyd-Jones. The tag line is "Every story whispers His name" and every story truly does. The whole point is to begin to see that every single solitary event in the Bible is truly about Jesus and leads to Him. My kids LOVE it. And I love what they're learning and hearing. Anyway......

We'll be reading two stories tomorrow night. One is the story of when sin first entered the world. It's called "The Terrible Lie". My favorite line from this story is: "Before they left the garden, God whispered a promise to Adam and Eve: 'It will not always be so! I will come to rescue you!'" The other story we'll read is of Jesus' crucifixion. Its title is "The Sun Stops Shining." My favorite line from that story? "Then Jesus shouted in a loud voice, 'It is finished!' And it was. He had done it. Jesus had rescued the whole world."

RESCUE. We had to be rescued because of our sin. The means of our rescue was a brutal, tortuous death by the Son of God, because only the death of His sinless life could satisfy His Father's wrath toward my sin-filled one and my eternal separation from Him. And so.......our journey toward the contemplation of the cross ends with these 10 reasons not to sin. Read them slowly. Let them in. Past the numbness. Past the apathy. Past the tradition. Awaken to the cost of the cross.

#25: Because sin and guilt may harm both my mind and body.

#26: Because sins mixed with service make the things of God tasteless.

#27: Because suffering for sin has no joy or reward, though suffering for righteousness has both.

#28: Because my sin is adultery with the world.

#29: Because, though forgiven, I will review this very sin at the Judgment Seat where loss and gain of eternal rewards are applied.

#30: Because I can never really know ahead of time just how severe the discipline for my sin might be.

#31: Because my sin may be an indication of a lost condition.

#32: Because to sin is to not love Christ.

#33: Because my unwillingness to reject this sin now grants it an authority over me greater than I wish to believe.

#34: Because my sin glorifies God only in His judgment of it and His turning of it to good use, never because it's worth anything on its own.

#35: Because I promised God would be Lord of my life.

peace.