Leading with No Lack of Humility... A Five Minute Friday post.

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Hello, Sweet Readers! We are officially entering what is known as Holy Week and I pray you are giving yourself a little room to breathe... to rest and reflect on what Easter really means and on how, way back then, the next few days changed --well, they (read: HE!) changed everything!

This is a Five Minute Friday post... which simply means I set a timer and free write for five minutes flat on the one-word prompt: LACK

{GO!}

Today is Palm Sunday...

I see the word prompt and I immediately envision Jesus sitting on the donkey, entering the gates and going into Jerusalem.

What constantly strikes me while reading familiar portions of Scripture is how Jesus never just does something... 

He is always saying more with His actions than He does with words only.  Everything He does --almost always really, but especially starting with this day-- has layers and layers of meaning!

Nothing He does during this Holy Week should be glossed over or ignored!

In biblical times, a donkey symbolized Peace and Humility while a horse symbolized War and Power! And an unridden colt? Those were considered ideal for royal use!

So Jesus riding a donkey entering the city gates, on this particular time and day of the Passover festival... well, it was a visual example that He came to change things up and He planned on being a different kind of king!

I've written about this before, but what the majority of that crowd was probably doing as Jesus passed by and they laid down palm branches and shouted, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" was a mere ritual. 

Part of the celebration of the festival was to recite this Messianic Psalm (Ps 118) as the sacrificial lamb was brought into the city, through the gates, down the hill, and into the Temple, to be examined for four days. (Sound familiar?)

After four days of living with the lamb and making sure he was pure and spotless, he was then sacrificed to make atonement for the sins of the people.  

I've read that having each family bring their chosen lamb INTO their homes was not only difficult because of the often close quarters and the loudness and chaos of having a lamb inside --but by day four, it was difficult for a completely different reason.  The kids had grown to treat the animal like a pet and the sacrifice was then felt deeper... it cut and it hurt and it was (--wait for it!) much more personal!

I can't say for sure... but I know -all these years distancing me from those actual events- just reading this story of Jesus riding a donkey, being the Lamb held in the Temple courts, tested and found blameless, and then crucified --it hurts. 

It's personal. Right? 

I mean --it should be!

He did it for us! 
He did it to take our place and

to pay a price we couldn't pay. 

He did it for love... for Love...

From riding on a donkey to show us

He is a King of Peace and

He came to serve His people, 

to remaining silent this week

when He could have oh so easily spoken up,

to the long and painful walk to the Cross,

to giving up His spirit, His life, His last breath

--so that we could have the Spirit, Life, and breath

to sing praises back to Him...

All of it was done

leading with no lack of humility,

showing us the Father's Heart and Hope 

for Loving His kids back to Himself!

And every move He makes,

every action, every word this week...

there is meaning and insight

and nuance to be found

if we will but slow and savor!*

Like the bitter herbs of the Passover meal...

it may be hard to take... hard to enjoy!

Those herbs are eaten to symbolize

the years of being in bondage,

of being enslaved.

It's because of Christ, 

that we, too, are no longer slaves!

We have been set free and called

to follow His lead, not lacking humility,

inviting all we come across

to join in and pull up a seat

to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb!

{STOP!}

Here's the thing: I truly believe that there were those in the crowd on that Palm Sunday way back when who knew what they were doing and what they were saying! They weren't simply going through the motions... they knew and believed (or hoped, at least!) that Jesus was the Messiah and He was the King and He would rule and reign and they meant every verse of Ps 118 as they said it!  They willingly threw down their cloaks and waved those branches and declared Jesus blessed! The next few days may not have gone the way they envisioned in their minds... but they knew that they knew!

God always has a remnant!

May we be counted among them!

--Among the Family of God
who were knowing, seeing, trusting...
who led with no lack of humility,
following in the steps of their King!
--Those who lead others...
looking beyond limitation and label,
inviting sisters and brothers
to find their seat at the Table.

Happy Holy Week, Sweet Readers! 
May you take a moment or two this week and reflect...
Breathe deep and grateful, and pull of a seat!

Linking up with  Kate Motaung and the #fmfparty Community today.  Five Minute Fridays give us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click HERE to read what others have to say about "LACK"

The FMF lowdown: The gathering happens on Twitter on Thursday nights & then we write our hearts out & hit publish all over the interwebs on Thursday & Friday (& sometimes on Tuesdays!) It's where we encourage & uplift... where we share prayer requests & praise reports... where we talk about food & friends & we find support & kindred hearts. It's where we are reminded that life is good & God is good & we're not alone... & then we all write for five minutes flat, a flash mob of wordsmiths letting our hearts & our fingers do the talking tapping & we hit publish before we can second-guess it all away. We'd love to have you join us!

* = Where my Five Minutes were up! Grace, please!

Photos courtesy of Unsplash

I'm also linking up with the lovely writer community linked below:

Crystal Twaddell for #FreshMarketFriday

Mary Geisen for #TellHisStory

Kelly Balarie for #RaRaLinkUp

Sue Donaldson for #LetsHaveCoffee

 We are hoping to have a new Easter episode uploaded by Tuesday or Wednesday this week!  Maybe somehow you don't know this, but we have our very own (somewhat non-blog-related) podcast called THE CHANGING OUR MINDS PODCAST! Karrilee and her all grown up Girlie, Kayelyn, co-host this podcast and talk about Oh So Many random things!  Faith plays a part, sure... but it is more like joining us for coffee as we catch up on the couch or sitting at the table! We talk about whatever is on our minds and often reveal things that we used to think we knew... but we've changed our minds! We'd love to have you join us at the Table or a comfy couch as we catch up over a cup of something yummy and share life together! We invite you to SUBSCRIBE here to have the Podcast sent to your preferred listening device so you won't miss a thing! Also, follow us on Facebook to join in on the conversations!