Easter: Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Sorry this is late today, things should be on schedule for tomorrow!

Old Testament Lesson

Daniel 5:1-12

We see in this passage King Belshazzar do something that when the consequences become known, he probably regretted it. He did the arrogant act of drinking from the vessels that were in the Temple, and then gave praise to false gods. When you are on the top of the mountain, you think you can do no wrong. They used to called that feeling 10 foot tall and bulletproof. That is how Belshazzar must have felt. He was king, he was all powerful, he had conquered many lands. He could do what he wanted to. Until, he went to far.

We need to be careful in life not to think too much of ourselves. No matter how great our successes or victories, we are still merely human. We are still in need of His power and strength and it is only through His grace that we can stand.

New Testament Lesson

1 John 5:1-12

We see that we show our love for Jesus in that we obey His commands. It is in obedience that we show who we really are and show our true love for our savior. It is one thing to talk about love of God, it is another to actually show forth that love in our lives. Likewise, it is easier to talk about loving our neighbors than it is to actually love them. But, in our actions, that shows who we really are. One of my professors used to say we show what really believe in how we really live.

Gospel Lesson

Luke 4:38-44

In life we must do what we know to be right, not what others want us to do. We see here Jesus knowing that there are other villages that need to hear what He has to say. The crowds of people that He has healed want Him to stay, but He knows that His mission calls Him to leave. No matter how much He may have wanted to stay, He had to do what He knew was the right thing.

Sometimes in life what we are called to do is very different from what we want to do. In life, may we have the grace to choose what God wants us to do over what we want to do. But, praise God for when those two are the same! And pray for decrement when they are not.