For Christians, Palm Sunday is a day of celebration. It’s the day Jesus arrived, and a whole city threw a party and rejoiced in His coming.
It’s also bittersweet. Although clamoring crowds greeted Jesus on Sunday, it only took several days for the tides to turn and for these same people, who once delighted in his coming, to ultimately rejoice in his death.
What happened between Palm Sunday and Good Friday?
Most likely, their hearts did not match their actions or words. They were simply following the herd and allowing their immediate emotions to be swayed by popular consensus. How many times does this happen in today’s world? How often have we done this ourselves? We exclaim God’s love and will in our lives, but our everyday actions and words barely make the mark. Who are we trying to “fool?”
The truth of the matter is we cannot “fool” God. He sees and knows our hearts better than we do. If we’re trying to fool our friends, associates, and family and play for both teams—the world’s team, which changes as quickly as the dollar’s value and God’s team, which is constant and unchanging—we will find that we’re always on the losing side. If you’ve been here or are here right now, you know how hard it is to reconcile the two team’s core morals and values and how difficult it is to play both sides.
So, this week, decide whose team you’re on. Are you delighting in Jesus’ coming, or are you rejoicing in His going? And then make sure your heart and actions reflect your choice.
Joel Osteen put it this way, “God sees your resolve. He sees your determination. And when you do everything you can do, that’s when God will step in and do what you can’t do.” That’s good news if you’re on God’s team because He’s one awesome cheering section and one strong player!”
