Palm Sunday

 

I tend to be a person who can be quite cheerful and happy first thing in the morning. After all there is the gift of a new day and all that it may bring. I have to say, however, that my cheerfulness first thing isn’t always appreciated by others!
 
One day fairly recently I woke up not only feeling up-beat, but actually excited. Now I don’t recall that it was a special occasion or that I was going to have a brand new Rolls Royce personally delivered, or the King was coming round to share my packet of cheese and onion crisps. It was just that I was feeling excited. I’m sure, like you, we count our blessings each and every day and maybe I was just a bit overwhelmed by how blessed I felt.
 
Excitement is all about something coming that you are eagerly waiting for and my thoughts went to that first Palm Sunday. Imagine with me, the crowds of people gathering as Jesus rode into town. They must have heard about this healer, the man who told fascinating stories, the man who had fed thousands with just five loaves and two fish. It was the Jewish festival ‘ Passover’ so there was a lot going on.
 
So back to the crowd - how excited they must have been just to be there throwing their cloaks on the ground, waiving palm branches and shouting ‘Hosanna’ (save us). Some would no doubt have even remembered the words of the prophet Zechariah where he depicted the coming Messiah, but also the King of Israel. (Zechariah 9:9). Yet lowly and humbly riding on a donkey. No wonder they were so excited, what a day they were having.
 
The real question is ‘do we get excited about what God is doing in our lives? Do we count our blessings, do we ever get a glimpse of the wonder of God? Are we excited about the new build at church, even if it’s not as quick as we would like? Think on this thought, yes we’re excited about the new build, but aren’t we more excited about what that can mean as, together, we are all being part of reaching out and building God’s Kingdom. I don’t know about you, but I’m really excited!