April 2 – Mark 15:21-47 – focus verse 34 (NIV)
Have you ever spoken these words: God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Maybe you didn’t say them out loud but you spoke them in your heart and mind. At times, we go through periods of deep and profound need, but God doesn’t seem to be showing up for us. There is only silence. Yet, the truth is that God’s goodness is most manifest in those moments. We can’t see it, because we are blinded by our emotions; but we have to hold onto our faith because God WILL reveal Himself to us in fresh ways along suffering’s pathway no matter how forsaken we feel.
Mark Galli, Editor in Chief of Christianity Today and author of several books says: “For us to suffer the loss of all things means, among other things, to suffer the loss of the props that have become idols. It means to crucify a faith that avoids the Cross. It means to recognize that not even the experience of forsakenness saves us, but only Jesus Himself.
To suffer the loss of all things means to say with Paul,
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Gal 2:20).“
Today is GOOD FRIDAY, a day when we meditate deeply upon Christ’s suffering and death.
Read what the disciples recorded about His death: Matthew 26:47-56, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19.
Reflect on His suffering. Never forget it. Never take it for granted.
Understand the price He paid for our salvation.
Ask God to open to you the profound understanding of what it means to be crucified with Christ so that it is no longer (you) who lives, but Christ who lives in (you).