So a friend of mine posted this quote on their facebook, and I just had to share it because I felt 100% convicted.
“People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”
D.A. Carson
Is it just me or does that one not sting a little? In a good way though. I just thought it was the perfect reminder as we enter into the one of the holiest weeks in our faith that we won't just drift into a more meaningful Easter if we don't put the effort into recognizing why we're celebrating. Sometimes we have to feel the pains of the crucifixion so that we can experience the joys of the resurrection.
There apppears to be more than enough going on in the world this week to distract from what I originally decided this week should be about, but I feel a renewed sense of effort to weed through it to have a fruitful and reverant holy week. I pray that you are able to do the same. Not because the issue of marriage equality (no matter which side you stand on) isn't important, but because until we have all resolved that there are some things that are bigger than this day, this culture, this time in history, then we can't offer the respect to one another that is deserved.
"Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor... Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting." -Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
"And eventually, the choosing becomes easier, the darkness lifts, and walking in Jesus' way is not quite such a struggle for a while. But the darkness will always return, often unexpectedly. That is why I need Lent, because it bears witness to the reality of darkness, of doubt, of fear, of pain. And it carries me through those real places, real experiences into one that is more fully and truly Real: the Reality of Resurrection, of Light, of Life." -Kimberlee Conway Ireton
And a little shout out to Matt Maher in coming up with one of my favorite songs this time of year. "Oh Church! Come stand in the light the glory of God has defeated the night!"