It is Palm Sunday. When I was a child in the Catholic church, I loved the palm branches and the images of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Today I see the reality of the lack of understanding, as the disciples and so many others thought they were welcoming in the King who was about to throw off the Roman shackles and restore Jerusalem to her “former glory.” That needs to be in quotes, because we know the truth of that former glory under the kings demanded by the Jewish people.
I wonder today just how far off the mark we still remain about Jesus. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords! He rules the Kingdom of God, where we dwell even while we are here in this physical reality! All power and authority are His, and we are His subjects. I can say and believe all these things, and I do. I pray, “Thy kingdom come”. And yet I know that I haven’t the faith of a grain of mustard seed. If I did, the mountains would be moving.
We wait for the second coming while struggling with sin, doubt and faithlessness. I spend so much of the treasure of life on things that are wasted. I lay down my own palm branches and shout “Hosanna!” Yet all the while I am beginning to see how little I really understand. I have been saved by the Creator of Everything because He loves me. The truth of that statement should be enough to burn the very heart out of my chest, not merely invoke gratitude.
I welcome what I do not understand, and if I did not do so the very rocks would cry out. I repent of my arrogance and self-righteousness in believing that I know anything of eternal value beyond trust in Jesus.
I welcome what I do not understand with just enough God-given faith to know I am His, and that He paid a very, very high price to buy me out of the slavery I was sold into by my own sin. I am indeed grateful.
1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”
Thank you for being my fellow workers. The work we do for the Lord is not useless because God says so, not because we do it.
Rejoice, O people of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem!
Look, your king is coming to you.
He is righteous and victorious,
yet he is humble, riding on a donkey –
riding on a donkey’s colt.
– Zecharaiah 9:9 NLT
Praise God!
Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hail to the King of Israel!
It annoys me that I am so “smart” that I want to “figure it out.” We know “the peace that passes understanding.” We know we were not “there when God laid out the heavens and the earth.”
I was humbled by Emmanuel’s email this morning, that said in part: “Lord we are nobody without you. All these are indicators that there’s a God who controls our lives. May your will on Earth be done!”