Freedom

I'm trying to finish up our schoolwork for the day, but I keep losing my kids. This weather is soooo nice! They work a little, then before I know it, they are back outside again!

But that's ok with me...we've had a long winter and a VERY rainy one, at that! So we've been cooped up inside so much that this is really a NICE change of pace! Just after lunch, I decided to take up the brush and scrub the "stuck-on" pollen from the sides of our swimming pool. As I savored the warmth of the sun on my skin, I didn't even seem to notice the tiredness in my arms from the scrubbing action! I LOVE spring!!!

From Journey to the Cross...  Today we learned that the palm branches they waved as Jesus entered Jerusalem was a symbol of freedom. The branches of the date palm tree were like a national flag to the Jews. And by waving the palm branches, the people were saying that they wanted to be free from the Roman rulers. As Jesus passed through the crowds, the people called out, "Hosanna!" The word Hosanna means, "Please save us!" They wanted Jesus to free them from their oppressors, the Romans.

They weren't really concerned with the thought that Jesus came to free people from the oppression of their sin. They were more interested in being set free from their human oppressors. How many times am I just like that? More often than not, I am concerned with Jesus getting me out of the current situation I am in, rather than waiting for Him to deliver me from the oppression of my sin... the very thing that drags me back down into the pit that He reached down into and set me free from. Oh how I need to be reminded that He is working all things together for my good and His glory! And how freeing it is to know that when I don't understand what's going on, He DOES!

"LORD, save us. LORD give us success. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD." Psalm 118:25-26