For the seven days of Holy Week, our devotions will focus on the seven last words of Christ. At our Good Friday Worship at 7:00 p.m. on April 14, we will hear these words read aloud again and meditate upon them through prayer and song.
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ Having said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, ‘Certainly this man was innocent.’ And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. (Luke 23:44-49)
Our lives are full of things we have done and things we have left undone.
We have had amazing, joyful experiences.
We have done thoughtful, good, kind, sacrificial things for others.
We have had terrible experiences and our hearts have torn in two.
We have done hurtful, mean things to others and been incredibly selfish.
We have neglected to do “the right thing” when we had the chance.
At the end of our lives, we are finally left to the mercy of God.
God will say, “Well done good and faithful servant” for many things.
And God will say, “I forgive you” for many others.
It is a divine mystery that somehow in the crucified and risen Jesus,
Your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-4)
Today, tomorrow, and when we die:
Into the Father’s hands, we commit our own bodies, our souls, all that is ours.
Trusting that through Christ Jesus, God is more committed to us than we could ever imagine.
Prayer: (Repeat slowly 3-5 times) Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit, my body, my soul and all that is mine.