Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 7.1-15 and John 7.14-36
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah, you that enter these gates to worship the Lord. (Jeremiah 7:1-2)
It was early June in 2002 when my friends and I arrived at a ranch just outside of Sherman, Texas for Passion. This was a gathering of young Christians coming together to pray, study, and sing to the Lord. As we walked to the camp grounds I noticed a raised platform where a young man was reading scripture from the Bible for all to hear. I learned that two days prior to this event that to prepare for this gathering that the Bible would be read from beginning to end. People would come and go reading until someone else came along to take their place and pick up where the last person had left off in their reading. I found this remarkable before a single song would be song, before any message would be given, that God’s truth, our story would fill this place to prepare for this event.
We are moving towards Easter and lent is the path to help us get there. To prepare and fill our hearts with the words of the Bible, to mediate and pray on each and every hard laid stone that went in to making this path that we follow, to sing to God whose love truly does endure forever. It is in this kind of preparation that when we finally do find ourselves at Easter that we will truly have a reason to rejoice!
Rocky Dwyer, Director of Youth Ministries
