Good Friday.

A wheat kernel.

What do they have in common and what's the significance?

Let's be honest, for many Good Friday is just another day.

Maybe a prelude to Easter to prepare for the Easter Bunny with baskets, candy, egg hunts and new outfits; or maybe a day to think about what church service you might want to attend on Easter Sunday?

Good Friday is so much more!

Because it is a day of remembrance- a day to appreciate the wheat kernel.

SCREECH....... HOLD UP!

What in the world does a wheat kernel possibly have to do with Easter?

Days before his death, Jesus himself explains the wheat kernel in John 12:23-24:

“Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels--a plentiful harvest of new lives.”

Did you know that a wheat kernel must die or become dormant before its seed can germinate and produce new life?

Jesus, like the wheat kernel, had to die in order that we may live. His death on the cross was the way to reconcile us back to God- to become a harvest of new lives!

Good Friday is THE DAY we remember that Christ CHOSE US- He said: "Yes to humanity- Yes to Us"! He willingly suffered a criminal's gruesome death all because He loved us!

Billy Graham was once questioned on why Jesus' death over 2,000 years ago should have any relevance today. I love his response:

"Just as the men who signed our nation’s Declaration of Independence over 200 years ago accomplished something that is still with us, so—in a far greater way—what Jesus did on the cross 2,000 years ago is still with us. Why did He die? He died because God loves us and He wants us to spend eternity with Him in heaven. Don’t turn away from Him, but by faith ask Christ to come into your life today—and He will."

Jesus' death on the cross not only accomplished something relevant, it was a universal game-changer.

His death should not be ignored or trivialized by fanciful distractions we devise!

The cross represents a call to an actionable decision.

*To accept or deny Christ.

*To acknowledge that He is the wheat kernel that died so that many would live.

*To embrace Christ's sacrifice as the restoration of our relationship with God.

This Good Friday, what is your decision?

Will you gaze upon the cross with love and thanksgiving in your heart accepting the great love offering of Christ or will you deny Him and instead put all your colored eggs in one basket?

Your response is more than relevant!

Thank you Lord for the gift of Christ. We are so thankful that Christ was willing to die so that our relationship with you could be restored and. May we see you this Easter season, remember your goodness and embrace that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Amen

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” ~John 14: 6