Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

A couple of weeks ago I took an afternoon run that began as a 5 mile run but ended up at 7 miles. In truth, when I returned to my house I looked at my GPS watch and saw that I had clocked 6.9 miles. So as most runners can understand, I ran up the block .05 miles and then back to make it an even 7 miles. Blame it on a bit of OCD or pride or whatever you like, but I just couldn’t end my run with an unfinished mile.  I posted my run that day to a running group I belong to on Facebook (for runners age 60+) noting that I had to put in the extra .1 mile to make it a complete 7 miles and I received over 450 reactions and more than 150 comments. All but one person said they would have done the same. I guess I’m in pretty good company when it comes to not wanting to walk away from an unfinished mile—at least among runners! (Kim still can’t understand why I couldn’t leave it at 6.9 miles!)  It makes me wonder, however, how many “unfinished miles” we all live with; how many “unfinished m...

Now that we’ve come through our Easter celebrations, I can’t help but wonder what life was like for Jesus’ first group of followers after Easter—i.e. the day after Jesus’ resurrection. I know what life is like for most of us after Easter Sunday. We go back to work or school. After a day of celebration, we force ourselves to get back into the normal routine of life—albeit a little tired and a still a little full from all the food we’ve eaten. We ask each other, “How was your Easter?” and then go on to talk about the weather or the latest news items. We enjoyed the church services, but now it’s time to get back into the real world of schedules, stocks, and sports. Like the day after any holiday, the day after Easter—and thus, life after Easter—can even seem to be a bit of a letdown.  But I wonder, is that the way it was for Jesus’ first followers the day after they experienced the risen Christ? Did they just get back to the normal routines of their lives? Was it a day of letdown? Did...

Have you ever watched as a line of storm clouds begin to make their way towards you? What might have begun as a bright, sunny day begins to turn a bit darker. The darkness begins to increase, as the storm clouds roll in. Finally, they take over the sky and eventually burst sending down buckets of rain, at times filling the sky with lightning and thunder.  Such was the case with Jesus’ final week—and especially his final day. The week began filled with the brightness of worship and praise, the hailing of Jesus as Messiah and King. Throughout the week, however, the sky was changing. By Thursday evening, it had become obviously darker. By Friday afternoon the storm clouds had rolled in, in full force—Jesus was being whipped, forced to carry his cross up Golgatha’s hill, and finally nailed to that cross. A deep darkness filled the earth. Then, like lightning and thunder filling the sky, Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” And he died.  It's hard for us from our perspective to under...