Wednesday April 12th

Luke 22:3-6

                 For me, Wednesday of Passion Week may represent the saddest day as I think on the betrayal of Judas.  To think that Judas, who spent three years with Jesus, would hand Christ over to the very men who were seeking to kill Him breaks my heart. 

                 It angers me to think that this man, who saw Christ walk on water, heal the sick, feed the multitudes, and raise the dead would so quickly turn Him in for a few bucks.  But even though we may view this as an extremely heinous crime, it seems to me that we often hand Christ over for so much less.  When we choose to ignore and suppress the voice and commands of the Lord in our lives, we do the same thing.

                How often do we know God’s will for a situation and choose to ignore it because of convenience or fear?  How often do we fail to speak of His name because we are afraid it will offend?  How often do we entertain worldly talk or coarse jokes simply because we don’t want to cause a stir?

                When we choose comfort or convenience over Christ it’s really no different than the actions of Judas.  It is betrayal in another form.  When we come to Christ by faith we are saying that we want Him to be the Lord of our lives.  We are agreeing to give up the ownership of our lives to Him!  That means everything we do is to flow through the filter of the will of God.

                 Are there areas in your life in which you are betraying the Lord?  Are there things that you are choosing over the will of God?  Allow Jesus to take the rightful place as Lord of your life today.

 Pastor Paul Beam

Events of Wednesday:

*Jesus continues teaching in the Temple
(Luke 21:37-38)

*The chief priests, elders, and scribes plot to kill Jesus
(Matthew 26:3-5; Mark 14:1-2; Luke 22:1-2)

*Judas agrees to betray Jesus
(Matthew 26:14-16; Mark 14:10-11; Luke 22:3-6)