"Refreshment"

 "I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:" (Ecclesiastes 2:6 KJV)

  "Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do." (PSALM 1:1-3 NLT)

 This is a day, many refer to as, "Good Friday," yet many don't even really understand what it means, and why it might be good, based upon the fact of what it represents. In Luke 2:10-12, the angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds, saying, "Don't be afraid, I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior - yes, the Messiah, the Lord - has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him be this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger." 

 For most people that are gainfully employed, their workweek involves a Monday to Friday kind of week, where you start working on Monday, finishing your week of work on Friday. It is basically a day many people look forward to, as they might have a time for refreshment during the weekend, if they get a chance. 

 Typically, good and death are not really something you might associate together, death is so gloomy, good doesn't really match gloomy, at least not in the situation of life as we know it. But God! (I can't really do this!) God made a way, a once and for all way, to make a death Good! Most people really don't really understand that! 

 We could call it the Great-Reset, where everything that was wrong in this world, was flipped and turned into something else, all because of One Man's death on a cross! Jesus said, "Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels - a plentiful harvest of new lives." (John 12:23-24 NLT) 

 At this point in the message you might be thinking, 'What does this have to do with pools of water, or watering trees?' I have had this discussion before, and it really doesn't end well; no pun intended! Is the Water a reference to the Word of God, or does it represent the Holy Spirit? What does it really matter! 

 We have One GOD! Did God actually place Himself on the cross to die for our sins? Was Abraham correct, saying, "God will provide Himself a sacrifice," as if to say that God Himself will be the sacrifice? Did the rainbow really represent the bow, with the arrow of the next judgment on the whole earth, aiming up into heaven? 

 Luke 2:10-12 makes the message abundantly clear! For hundreds of years God did not speak; and when He did, His first words were the cry of a baby! Man messed all of this up, and the Son of Man came down and fixed it, once and for all...

"For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law - I stopped trying to meet all its requirements - so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law makes us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die." (Galatians 2:19-21 NLT)