Today is Palm Sunday. It is the day we acknowledge Christ Jesus riding into the city, and the street was filled with cheering people.
“Then the disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them, and they brought the donkey and the colt, and placed their coats on them; and Jesus sat on the coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats on the road [as before a king], while others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him, and those that followed Him, were shouting [in praise and adoration],
“Hosanna to the Son of David (Messiah); Blessed [praised, glorified] is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest [heaven]!” – Matthew 21:1-11
What an atmosphere it must have been! The celebrating! The joy! The shouts of Hosanna!
The will of God is so much fun when people celebrate what we are doing, what we believe or who we are! Let’s be truthful; it is nice when we are in the center of God’s will, and people are not only cooperating, they are celebrating us!
Yet, just days later, the people were saying, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Just-a-few-days-later. What a change of atmosphere. The One who had been celebrated, is now ridiculed.
Jesus had learned that doing the will of God is not a popularity thing. Jesus served God, when the crowd applauded Him, and He served God when the crowd was against Him.
I could pontificate on this for many paragraphs. Suffice it to say that all of us have and/or will experience what Jesus experienced. People will flatter us, bless us, and love us, and some of the same people will begin screaming, “Crucify!”
Following God is about the applause of Heaven, not the applause of earth. Too many of us become crippled because others turn on us, or don’t accept us. Jesus had learned to work for a cause and not for applause.
When “hosanna” changes to “crucify,” keep walking. Keep running. Keep climbing. Keep sacrificing. Keep growing in grace and knowledge. Keep giving. Keep serving. Keep your eyes on God…what HONORS and PLEASES Him…and receive the APPLAUSE of heaven and all the other blessings and rewards that go with it!
While growing up I was poor, dysfunctional and very chubby! This awareness did not come to me until I entered first grade. Even at age six, it did not take long to figure out others did not want to be around me so much. It did not take long to figure out that I did not have clothes and shoes as good as the majority of kids in my school. I learned first-hand the pain of feeling less than because I was overweight. Often, I was the subject of many jokes especially from guys.