Meaningful Days
Developing Our View Of God And His Ways
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The day before Good Friday is commonly called Maundy Thursday. You heard me correctly – Maundy Thursday. As we commemorate several life-altering events that took place about 2,000 years ago, make note that it’s not Monday Thursday (though it did commence some gruesome labor), not Muddy Thursday (though it did involve a grubby neighbor), and not Zombie Thursday (though it did precede a graveyard raver).
Scholars agree that “Maundy” is derived from a Latin and French and English term, but they vary as to which term it invokes. Is this a day to remember Jesus’ command (mandatum) to “Love one another. As I have loved you” (Jn. 13:34)? Or is this a day to beg (mendicare) God’s mercy for this standard we undo? Is this a day to focus on Jesus, the commander, and his “greater love” that will never fade? Or is this a day to focus on us, the beggar, and the lesser love for which Christ paid?
The answer, I confess, is yes, yes, yes. And yes. Maundy Thursday is a day to assess how we’re living, and to take eat of the One who’s forgiving. It is a day to get angry at all your failures, and to take drink of the One who all your ails cures. Remember the standard, Remember you’ve failed. Remember Jesus Christ and the verdict He nailed. Remember the One who ran the perfect race, yet fell to His knees to stand in our place.
Jesus commands us to watch and to pray, yet still begs the Father to show us The Way. And Jesus commands your heart to not harden. Live in His grace, for He begged your pardon.
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About the Book
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
—Ecclesiastes 1:2
We do not need a rebuttal to the Teacher’s comment about everyday life (“life under the sun”), but we do need the proper perspective to understand his plea. Everything we seek and achieve and possess is indeed meaningless … without a heart and mind set on Jesus Christ.
Meaningful Days is a source for developing that intricate, yet simple heart and mind-set. It offers encouragement to stop and consider God’s wonders and Word in all aspects of life—to have a wholly Christian worldview. For when the Bible is our lens for viewing life’s norms, the meaningless-ness of them fully transforms; we see our ordinary, everyday life under the sun for what it truly is — the prelude in our extraordinary, exultant, eternal life in the Son.
Each script in this Meaningful series begins with a historic event or holiday but moves thoughts beyond the common, trivial, and blasé. The goal is to both entertain and challenge a reader/believer of any stripe, and those who sow effort will reap fruits that are ripe. If you don’t accept this challenge, so be it, it’s your life to live—but the rewards of discipleship far outweigh the meaningless alternative.
Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.
—Hosea 14:9
About the Author
Ryan Weber is an author of the Matthean Order; educated as a certified public accountant, he is called to serve his Lord with both numbers and words. Ryan hails from Longmont, Colorado, and now lives in Falls Church, Virginia, with his winsome wife, Sarah, and their charming child, Selah.