preparations.

Forty days…what is it about 40 days!  Genesis 6-8 records the forty days of rain the flooded the earth.  Exodus 24:18 records the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai.  Luke 4:1-13 tells of the forty days Jesus lived in the desert being tempted by Satan and subsequently beginning his ministry.  Then there is Acts 1:3 that reminds us that Jesus spent 40 days visiting his followers after the resurrection.  There is something holy about 40 if no other reason than God seemed to use this number of days to get through to people.

So, it should be no surprise that the church today will often set aside forty days of preparation in order to allow God to do something special inside each of us.  So, here we stand looking at Easter about a month away.  We could choose to simply wait it out and suddenly be surprised by Easter.  Or we could begin a journey to the cross.  Some of you may have started that 40 day journey on Ash Wednesday.  While not all churches observe Lent, it is a great idea to prepare for one of the most precious holidays on the Christian calendar…Easter. 

I want to encourage you today to begin a journey to the cross.  Although we are to celebrate Easter every Sunday by worshipping the risen Christ, Easter is once a year that we focus even more on the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  You can either let it come and go or prepare yourself for something great! 

The lesson for today is to prepare for Easter.  Begin now by praying for God to reveal how you might get closer to him.  Get into the word on a regular basis.  Take a day to fast from food or media and use that time to spend quietly with God.  The more time you spend with God, the more special Easter will become.