This is the first time I have ever made charoset, a staple of the Jewish Seder table.  It is basically chopped dates, chopped walnuts, cinnamon and honey.  It is supposed to be more of a paste, but I think this turned out well.

Tomorrow night (Good Friday) our home church is having a modified Seder.  We will be focusing on the Last Supper (yes, I know, that’s Maundy Thursday, not Good Friday, but let’s not get legalistic) and, most of all, on Christ. We will be eating bitter herbs, breaking bread, drinking “wine” (yes, grape juice), reflecting and giving thanks.

Every course on the Seder table is very specifically symbolic, all of it serving to remind those partaking of the freedom the Lord provided.  For the Jews, it is with great emphasis on the Exodus.

But our “Seder” will also focus on freedom: freedom through His grace, freedom through being a slaves to Christ.  For believers in Christ, the charoset reminds us of the sweetness of salvation, the forgiveness of our sins, being bound to the law of grace as opposed to sin.  For the one the Lord sets free is free indeed!

Good Friday is the time to try to get some understanding of just what Jesus did for us – for you, for me – on the cross. To embrace His sacrifice with a depth of gratitude as great as we can muster.  It is a time to realize Who Christ is, why He did what He did on this earth, and why we need Him far greater than we can conceive.

So, tomorrow night, as we partake of the elements and prayerfully seek the Lord, it is my prayer that we find a deeper walk with the Lord.  And as you celebrate this most holy of weekends, I pray that you also find yourself drWn closer to Christ, that the reality of Easter becomes far greater and your heart is filled with joyous freedom in Jesus Christ.