"Not Good Enough Friday"

I find it a bit odd we call today "Good Friday" when the day has nothing to do with being good.  In fact, it has more to do with not being good enough than being good.  I could spend my entire life working really hard to be "good" and I still would not spend my eternity in heaven.  I almost feel like we should call the day "Not Good Enough Friday" because that's the entire reason why the day exists.  That is the reason for the sacrifice.  That is the reason for Jesus.

(Of course, you can look at the day as "good" because God is so good to us but for the sake of my Good Friday reflection...go with the "Not Good Enough Friday" mentality.)

 Good is irrelevant.  Jesus is all that matters.  The gospel is that simple.  God loves us but we are not pure enough for His Kingdom so a sacrifice had to occur.  Jesus was that sacrifice.  He will stand before us in front of God and we will enter His Kingdom.  Whether I am "good" or "bad" is irrelevant.  Whether I have Jesus on my side is All. That. Matters. Period.

I've been a Christian since I was a child but it wasn't until a couple of years ago that salvation clicked with me.  I was listening to Mandisa's song "Not Guilty" and I got a glimpse of how standing before God will go.  The lyrics are too powerful to summarize so here you go:

"Not Guilty"
I stand accused
There's a list a mile long
Of all my sins
Of everything that I've done wrong
I'm so ashamed
There's nowhere left for me to hide
This is the day
I must answer for my life

My fate is in the Judge's hands
But then He turns to me and says

I know you
I love you
I gave My life to save you
Love paid the price for mercy
My verdict not guilty

How can it be?
I can't begin to comprehend
What kind of grace
Would take the place of all my sin?

I stand in awe
Now that I have been set free
And the tears well up as I look at that cross
'Cause it should have been me

My fate was in the nail scarred hands
He stretched them out for me and said

I'm falling on my knees to thank You
With everything I am I'll praise You
So grateful for the words I heard You say

My part is that easy.  I just need to recognize no matter how hard I try I will never be good enough for the perfection God intended for us.  I can try but I will never succeed.  Let's start with the 10 commandments...just 10 small commandments.  They are listed out in Exodus 20 and include: have no other gods before or bedside Me, do not make or worship other idols, do not take the Lord's name in vain (all that OMG'ing we've got going on...yeah that doesn't fly with the big man), keep the Sabbath day holy, honor your father and mother (I'm pretty sure I failed this yesterday when I got a bit cranky with my mom on the phone...sorry mom), do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not lie, and do not covet your neighbor.  Okay so some of these I think I'll be good on...for example, I hope to resist murder in this life.  However in God's eyes...murder and lying are on the same playing field.  Sins aren't "ranked" as worst to best...there is no place for any sin in heaven.  So basically...we are all screwed.

Enter Jesus.  Because Jesus was sacrificed (to death) we can be in paradise.  He literally will stand before God and represent us upon meeting our Maker.  I find something so incredibly cool about that...Jesus is going to stand up for me.  All I have to do is let Him.

So today, "Not Good Enough Friday", is the day we remember the sacrifice.  Today is the day we remember the death that had to occur so we can have a chance at paradise.  And although we celebrate the Risen King in just a few days...without the sacrifice there would be no reason to celebrate.

So Happy "Not So Good Friday".  Get on board with Jesus because eternity in paradise is going to be one amazing place.

A Sacrifice, a Savior and a Friday,

​Ashley Lucille

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