GAVE IT UP

Palm Sunday
Happy Palm Sunday! 

I hope you had a great night. Yesterday my grandsons and I dyed and decorated Easter eggs. I don't believe they had ever done that before. That was the only way we did it when I was young and my kids also. Now they have all those plastic eggs that you can fill up with candy or money, whatever the Easter bunny likes. 

Palm Sunday is a special day, the Sunday before Easter. Those of us who gave up something for Lent, there is only one more week of abstaining. Oh my, I can't wait! It has been rough. My husband gave up desserts and boy is he anxious. It has been very hard for him. He usually eats something every night even if it is only several cookies and a glass of milk. But I believe that is the point. You sacrifice or give up something for the love of Christ.

Remember that Lent is about spiritual transformation and conversion, and is basically a spiritual training period. Through our Lenten disciplines and prayer, we become more like Jesus and grow closer to God. One way we focus on Christ, and not on material goods, is to make sacrifices during Lent. For instance, watching television is not sinful in itself, but since most people enjoy it, giving it up for 40 days is a sacrifice. And what a sacrifice that would be for some of us.

Some people think that Lent is only for Catholic practices but it is followed by many mainstream denominations. It is not something that you have to do. Although I think that Catholics do have to do it. You can either give up or limit a practice or add a practice such as reading the Bible more or adding more prayer time or giving away more money and time.

Whatever you do, it will please God that you would take the time to give to Him however you do it.
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin  3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
Psalm 51:1-9 

Palm Sunday is one of the most important days in the Christian calendar after Christmas and Easter. Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter, and marks the beginning of Holy Week, the week of events leading up to Jesus' death. On Palm Sunday Christians celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, the week before his death and resurrection. It is referred to as Palm Sunday because the Bible says that when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, the crowds greeted him by waving palm branches and covering his path with palm branches. In biblical times, the regional custom called for kings and nobles arriving in procession to ride on the back of a donkey. The donkey was a symbol of peace; those who rode upon them proclaimed peaceful intentions. The laying of palm branches indicated that the king or dignitary was arriving in victory or triumph. 

Have an awesome Palm Sunday!

Les (lesbear)







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