During Holy Week I like to reflect on the ways I have been knowingly or unknowingly living out of the darkness of the crucifixion rather than the light of the resurrection.
It helps me to make a list.
What would be some things on your list? Fear? Guilt? Perfectionism? Control?Comparison? Condemnation? Working hard to earn approval? They are on mine.
A question I have been pondering is, am I living out of Jesus’ work, It Is Finished or mine, I am finishing it?
It is so easy for me to unconsciously live from a position of unbelief that says it is Jesus plus D’Anna’s work. But that is not the gospel. The gospel is only Jesus. When I remember that, I am lighter, freedom and joy are actualities not abstractions, and my center becomes calibrated not chaotic.
I am prone to wander, though, prone to forget. The Good Shepherd knows this of me, however, and continues loving me, pursuing me and carrying me back to His flock anyway.
Friend, I do not know what ways crucifixion living has you in bondage, but I know mine. The good news is we do not have to stay stuck there. The tomb was empty. There was a resurrection, and it was to ransom, heal, redeem, forgive and secure eternal life for us.
Our Savior’s great sacrifice was a one time deal. Just before yielding His spirit on the cross Jesus said, “it is finished.” (John 19:30) Done. Completed. Past tense.
I have learned it is one thing to understand that truth in my head, and a whole other thing to stand under it with my heart. I pray we are all living in the light of that truth? It is part of our great inheritance.