A Mother's View

These are my beautiful children. These are the little lives that I would do anything for and pray for everyday. These little faces capture my heart and make it sing.

Today is Good Friday. Today is the day that Jesus died. Not just any death, but a undeserved death, my death. Today is the day that Mary watched as the face that captured her heart was beaten and bruised. She watched as the life that she would do anything for and prayed for was mocked, tortured and killed. Mary, Jesus's mother, stood by helplessly as the little one she held and rocked, now a man, was whipped and crucified. She watched, all the while, knowing it was for her he was hanging on that cross.

As I think about today, I can't help but think about what it must have been like, for Mary, to watch her son suffer so much. I can't even begin to imagine seeing my children in so much pain.

I also think about the reason Jesus was hanging on the cross, the reason he had to die. In obedience to His Father, it was because of me He was hanging on that cross. That death was mine, what I deserve for the sin in my life.

I may not seem like a bad person. By most people's standards I would be considered a good person.

I want to tell you that I am not a good person. My heart is wicked in and of itself. If left to myself I would choose sin. Only by the grace of God, only by abiding in Christ am I redeemed!! I NEED Jesus! Bottom line. Nothing else matters. I am not justified because I m a good mother, a good wife. I am not redeemed because my house is clean or because I am nice to my neighbors. I am not good because I go to church or even because I serve in church. None of these things matter and none of them count.

The only thing that matters is that God opened my eyes to my need for Him and redeemed my wicked heart for His glory. Because of Him I can rejoice and be glad. He saved me!! I can live because He died.

Today is the day that my Savior died. In a few days we rejoice that He is risen, but today I am compelled to remind myself of my need for Him, the reason He died.

John 19, Ephesians 1