Lord, It’s Friday

This happened Friday, last Friday to be exact. I was on my way to the Solace Center for another day with Dad. As I crested Old Fort Mountain I began to pray a prayer that I’ve grown accustomed to praying the last few months. I’ll begin simply by reminding myself (God already knows) what day it is. Once I have done that I follow with these words: “Lord, I am here. I present myself to you. Here I am.” I’ve learned this from John Coe’s work on prayer and have found that it puts me in a place of expectancy. As a matter of fact Coe writes that “this protects the will from becoming asleep to the will and Person of God.”

Back to last Friday.

As I’m driving past Black Mountain I pray, “Lord, it’s Friday.” And before I could continue with the usual, “I am here. I present myself to you. Here I am,” these words came out of my mouth: but Sunday’s coming.  For this particular week, Friday had seemed such a long way off, but when it finally came I realized I really wanted to see Sunday. No, I didn’t simply want to see the day after tomorrow–I wanted what Sunday meant.

And I didn’t know then that between Friday and Sunday, Dad would go to be with Jesus. I just knew I wanted to see Sunday.

Why? Because to me, as a follower of Jesus, as one redeemed from my sin by his precious blood, that dark Friday when Jesus hung suspended on a cross between heaven and earth, my future hung suspended between life and death, between a glorious heaven and the bottomless pit of hell. That particular Friday, without a Sunday, spelled doom for me. If Satan wins on the cross, I lose in life.

I prayed all the way to Asheville. And I spent that Friday with glimpses of Sunday. I wondered if Dad was looking into the portals of glory. I honestly doubted he was ever with us that day. In less than twenty-four hours he had breathed his last on this earth.

What I want to remind you of is this: Sunday is of no importance without Friday. If Jesus had not died, there would be no need for a resurrection. On Friday, Jesus died for my sins. On Sunday, Jesus rose for my salvation. On Friday, Jesus died for my past. On Sunday, Jesus rose for my future.

We live at a time in history that has already seen the most important Friday and Sunday that will ever be. No Super Bowl Sunday comes close. No Friday night lights can compare. Lord, it’s Friday.