Make it Real!

On the Christian ecumenical calendar, this week is considered Holy Week. Christians are reminded of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem days before he would be tried, found guilty of contrived charges and murdered by his own people on a cross. It is a somber week for believers because we are humbled to remember that it was for our sins alone he bore this burden and suffered this atrocious and violent act. The week triumphantly culminates with Easter Sunday when Jesus was absent from the grave (of death) – signifying the completion of God’s plan for our salvation. What a wonderful, breathtaking piece of history! I believe it!

Why do I believe it – well because first it’s true! Second I believe it because I know it – I know it because I was taught this all my life and I’ve been shown the scriptures that prove it. Which brings me to my blog topic for today.

When my sister and I were growing up, my parents took us to church literally “every time the doors were open.” (And sometimes when they weren’t officially open – my mom and dad were the church treasurers and building committee chair and other things that required extra attendance sometimes!) Anyway, from the earliest age I can remember, at least once or twice during the week before Easter, my mother would remind my sister and I of what Jesus might have been doing about 2,000 years ago. I see now that this was a way that she helped make Jesus and our growing faith real to us. Perhaps he was instructing two of his disciples to go ahead into Jerusalem to get a donkey for him to ride. Or maybe he was walking beside Simon who the soldiers made to carry the cross that the Sanhedrin sentenced Jesus to die upon. Or maybe he had just walked into the Garden of Gethsemane to find his disciples sleeping when he had asked them to wait while he prayed. Whatever the situation my mother asked us to consider, it was always one that invoked vivid images very much bringing to life the fact that Jesus was human and suffered human pain, anxiety, and fear especially heightened during the week before his crucifixion and resurrection.

I am grateful to my mother and father for ensuring that they reared their children in a Christian home. And as I know from being a parent, there are varying degrees of Christian homelife. There are the homes where children ask a blessing before each meal, are taken to church fairly regularly and pray before going to bed at night. Nothing wrong with that. But I challenge young parents who might read this blog to go the distance in preparing your children for their life-long walk with the Lord. Make it real for them – model your behavior not to please your child but to please the Lord who has loaned your child to you to rear. Make His story real for them like my mama did for me. I promise you, they will be eternally grateful to you. I know I am!

And pray.