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40 DAYS OF LENT: DAY #40 – Holy Saturday
WORD OF TODAY: 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 (ESV)
9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
THOUGHTS ON THE WORD:
Today consider the state of mind of all those who had followed Jesus in His life and ministry. It was the Sabbath, and the Body of Christ Jesus lay in the tomb of Joseph. The day was still, no work was done and the day filled with quiet sorrow. Jesus was gone, dead and buried. What would your life be without Jesus? How empty would each breath breathed be without our Lord? Consider the silence of the day our Lord lay in that tomb.
We have walked for 40 days now, examining ourselves through Scripture and prayer and fasting, acknowledging our own wretchedness, our sinful nature, our corrupt hearts. Consider today the desperation realized as our only hope lay dead in a tomb. How frightful a thought that after all the suffering, shame, and pain He endured, our Lord Jesus Christ is simply gone, alone and dead locked in the cold, dark tomb. Take some time today to sit quietly, and consider the wrath of God laid upon Christ Jesus because of our sin.
Consider if it all ended with Jesus in the tomb. For if Christ is not risen, then our faith is in vain (from 1 Cor. 15:14). And so as a prisoner set free from death row, we give thanks for the Truth that God had not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through the wrath laid upon our Lord Jesus Christ in whom we now walk. The Sun will rise in the morning, and the dark, cold tomb will be filled with Light and hope empty of wrath replaced with life eternal! Now prepare your hearts and be encouraged, the Light will soon rise!