Thursday, April 2, 2015

Some thoughts this Holy Week

Today, I picked up three women from Yemen to go to ESL class. They were fluent in English and as we talked, they shared from a personal view, what has been going on in their home country. They were anxious about friends and loved ones that they had left. They were unsure as to whether they could return there or not.  I realized in that moment that we Americans are both blessed and sheltered.

Why? We are blessed because we have had less turmoil than their country and others. We rarely see fighting on the streets and bombs going off in the midst of a crowd. We are surely blessed that we don't have to deal with the devastation that many others see every day in their countries, cities and towns. We are sheltered because we have NO IDEA what it means to have your loved one killed right in front of you or your friend have their face blown off walking down the street.These lovely ladies reminded me that we need to be grateful for the protection and freedom we have. We whine and complain about all that is going on but we see NOTHING compared to other people on this planet.

We are to be grateful for the GREAT GIFT of living in a country where, for the most part, we can walk safely down our streets, choose our religion, disagree over politics and have whatever friends we want to have, marry who we want, etc. Though we may not like everything we have, it is ours and we need not take this great gift for granted.  We can sometimes be so "fed up" with the politics that we often see it as cheap freedom. We don't value it as much as we should.

 

So, Holy Week, is here. I have been thinking a lot about the significance in my life of this week. I am reminded over and over again this week that the grace and sacrifice that Jesus, God's Son made for us, is not cheap either. It was paid with a great sacrifice...death on a cross.  And therefore, I must not treat the grace and mercy I receive every day as a cheap gift. It is a prize, a cherished gift that I will never be able to "repay" but I can LIVE as a follower of Christ every day and value and cherish the gift of LOVE my Savior and Lord gave to me.

             Do we live as though the Grace you have received is a cheap gift or the best gift we could
                    ever receive? Or do we whine about it because it is not what we want it to be?

Think about it.......

HE IS RISEN. HE IS RISEN INDEED.