Good Friday

When you were a child, did you ever wonder why it was called GOOD Friday? I remember being little and hearing about Jesus dying on Good Friday. I wondered why in the world this was a GOOD thing?

As a teacher, I had a reward program. Each Friday, if you had behaved during the week, you got to choose a prize, or I gave out cookies or something. We called this "Goody Friday." Well, when Easter time rolled around, the kids would refer to this day before Easter as Goody Friday.

As an older teen, then adult, I understood why it was GOOD Friday. My sin separates me from God. Plain and simple. I can never be good enough for Him. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 God is perfect. There is no way we could ever be good enough to stand in His presence. The punishment for our sin is separation from Him. Death came after Adam & Eve had sinned. I don't know why He chose this way of making us right with Him, but early on He told people that to be right with Him, they could sacrifice a lamb. The animal's death would take the place of our death. But, that wasn't enough. A lamb could not ever fully pay for our sin. It took the death of God's own Son to do that.

Why was that a good thing? Because He gave us a way to get rid of all our sin in His eyes. He let Jesus leave Heaven to spend about 33 years on earth, then die, all so we could have our sins paid for or "atoned." It means I don't have to try to be good enough for God. The good that is in me comes from Him. Most importantly, it means that one day I can stand before Him perfectly blameless. How do you feel when you have to face someone you know you have wronged? There are feelings of guilt, regret, and maybe sorrow. If you can accept that Jesus already took on our guilt, then you can stand before God with none of that baggage!

Easter is coming. That is when we remember the most important step that came after Good Friday. But, for today, on "Goody Friday" I think we have the greatest prize ever: Jesus!