If you’ve ever spent even a minute in an museum of art you’ve probably run across some old paintings where saints are signified with round rings of light over their heads.
Halos were meant to be a shorthand for identifying the truly righteous from ordinary folk.
Problem is, more often than not the standards applied by those making the distinction are not the true standards God reveals in His word and by the example of Jesus, His Son.
So today we are fasting halos-false definitions of holy-and making room for the TRULY holy which often makes us uncomfortable.
Jesus’ emotions and actions in the days following the Triumphal Entry were something less (far less) than placid. He wept over Jerusalem, forcefully cleared the temple, cursed a fig tree, confounded religious leaders, told pointed parables, and experienced emotional distress.
Alicia Britt Chole
It is so hard for those of us who grew up listening to simplified Bible stories to embrace the fact (the marvelous and very critical FACT) that Jesus was fully human and fully God.
He didn’t only come to sacrifice Himself as a propitiation for sin, He came to live an authentic yet perfect human life in fulfillment of the Law’s every requirement.
So when we see Him angry, sad, dismayed, lonely, agonized, grieved-those are not unholy emotions.
I can’t stand the images of Jesus that portray Him as a soft, ephemeral, other-worldly cardboard cutout of a man. I don’t know what He looked like but I’m certain it wasn’t like that.
My Shepherd King is a real Person who experienced real life and real emotions. He understands loss and love and betrayal and passion.
So I don’t have to pretend that I don’t.
I’ve always told my kids that some folks try hard to be holier than God.
And it’s true-trying to circumscribe the human experience so that it fits inside some kind of false holiness is futile.
We can bring all our emotions and experiences to the Throne of Grace where our Great High Priest can sanctify and modify them for His purposes and glory.
Today, fast the halos of false definitions of holy. Ask God where He is weeping in your life and in the world and join Him there. It is never weakness to grieve where God is grieving.
Alicia Britt Chole
**As promised, I am sharing thoughts on 40 DAYS OF DECREASE (a Lenten journal/devotional). If you choose to get and use the book yourself, I’ll be a day behind in sharing so as not to influence anyone else’s experience.**
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