Palm Branches

 


The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!” (John 12:12-13).

As members of the church waved their palm branches on Palm Sunday, I wondered, “Why do we do this? What is the significance of palm branches today or when Jesus made His triumphant entrance to Jerusalem?”

With a little internet research, I discovered some interesting facts about palm branches. They were used for celebration during King David’s time, so the branches were a symbol of royalty. Another interesting tidbit: It takes 30 years for a palm tree to bear fruit and a man couldn’t become a high priest until he was 30 years old. Jesus was 30 when He began His ministry. Coincidence? No, God ordained it, declaring Jesus as a High Priest.

Waving the palms in the air and placing them on the road as Jesus entered, meant they considered Him to be a King and a High Priest. What a wonderful way for God to proclaim that Jesus was the King of kings!

As I looked at my palm branch, I noticed a brown spot on one of the leaves, a blemish. All of the palms waving in the air didn’t touch my soul, but the blemish did. For me, it represented my sin which the King of kings took with Him to the cross.

Today my palm branch is wilted, because it has had no connection to its root system for several days. It is slowly dying and will one day be brown and shriveled because the root system is what gave it life.

Our King of kings, our Savior, our Christ Jesus is our Root system. If we are not connected to Him, we will slowly shrivel and die under a heavy burden. So hold on tightly to your Root system where you will receive nourishment, so you can flourish in this world.

But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God. (Psalm 92:12-13).

 Oh, what Blooming Crazy Love our Savior has for His children, that He would take our sins upon himself and carry them to the cross, so we might have life everlasting. Freeing us from the burden of our sins and becoming our Root system to sustain us each day!

HAPPY EASTER!

Location: Radnor, OH 43066, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crazy Messy

Image
Sometimes life gets crazy messy, like my house while we were waiting on new flooring. We ordered vinyl flooring for the office and carpet for the bedroom. They estimated it would be about three weeks before it arrived. I saw no hurry to empty either room and paint. After all, I had plenty of time. My three weeks turned into about ten days, and I had very little notice they were coming to install the office flooring. I literally dumped piles of papers into boxes as I cleared the desks and closet so I could paint, before the new flooring was installed. Before the office was back together, I also had to empty the bedroom, which made for an even bigger mess! We had piles in every corner and small furniture on top larger items. It’s not always our piles of paper, our closets, and drawers that create the disasters in life. Messy can come from emotional stress, or difficult decisions. Family disputes or unexpected tragedies. You fill in the blank. What part of your life is crazy messy or has ...
Read more

The Missing Sock

Image
  I dropped a laundry basket of clean clothes near my husband’s chair. I knew it was a long shot, but I thought maybe he would notice the basket and match socks while he watched the TV. (Try it sometime, because it worked!) When he got to the end of the basket, he was missing a sock. No big deal, it happens all the time. I set the sock on top of the dresser and figured its friend would show up in another load. Fast forward several days and I’m at the chiropractor standing at the front desk. I removed my jacket and took a step backward. Much to my surprise, there was my husband’s missing sock on the floor. The sweatshirt I was wearing was in the same load of laundry. Apparently the missing sock found a new friend and became rather clingy. I picked it up off of the floor, chuckled and said, “I found my husband’s missing sock. I write devotions. There is a story in here somewhere.” During biblical times Palestinian women received ten silver coins as a wedding gift. These coins were no...
Read more

Pride Check

Image
Our new neighbors are just the sweetest and most helpful friends one could ask for. We are still getting acquainted with one another, but they are both kind and helpful, and their children are so polite. He is a very talented free-hand painter for motorcycles and trucks. His truck is absolutely beautiful, and when I complimented his work, his wife said, “Thank you. I am so proud of him.” Those words echoed in my mind for several days. First of all, I thought it was precious that she adored her husband’s talent. Second, it was a reminder that I need to compliment Jim more than I do. I know the Bible warns us about our pride in verses like, “Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2) , but pride in your spouse is different from being too proud or self-absorbed to need God or others. Dictionary.com backs this up by showing two definitions of the word. a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherish...
Read more