Preparing Hearts & Homes

It’s Friday morning and I am running through my mental checklist for the weekend ahead. Easter baskets have been assembled, plans discussed, and I’m filtering out loads of laundry that have been piling up all week. In a last minute attempt to commemorate Holy Week, I have thrown together some simple activities to incorporate into Cyrus’s homeschool lessons. We missed Tuesday’s and he giggled his way through Wednesday’s feet washing that was intended to be reflective. I make mental note to be more organized with my plans next year. 

I am trying desperately to abide and to reflect on the cross but my mind is in a million different places. It’s in these moments of frenzy and distraction where I am reminded that we don’t need to escape, we need to return. Can I sweep the noise out with the Goldfish crumbs? Can I wipe away the exhaustion with a bottle of Lysol? 

This is my plea this Sunday. Buy a new dress. Or come completely casual. Just come.

If anyone felt the weight of weariness, it was the one who asked for His cup to be removed from Him. Can you imagine the days, hours, and minutes leading up to Christ’s painful death? How did he prepare for the unthinkable? He spent His final days on Earth eating with people, washing the feet of His followers, and crying out in prayer. While He is praising the woman we know so little about who has just poured an expensive jar of perfume on His head, Judas is plotting his betrayal. I wonder if the wastefulness of the woman’s sacrifice was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Judas? Or did it just reveal the focus of his heart?  I wonder how often I myself place practicality and productivity over a posture of worship. 

Something I feel deep in my bones is that Jesus is whispering, imploring us to enter in. We so often show up to church on Sunday morning distracted, frazzled, in postures of anything but worship. If we are expected to show up to our jobs prepared to work how much more preparation should we put into preparing our hearts for worship? 

Surely His Spirit is with us in all moments, but when I stand among fellow believers in church I try to picture Jesus on the throne before us. We come to get our cups filled and He is asking us to pour them out to Him in surrender. How many Sunday mornings have I spent so focussed on getting my appearance ready only to show up irritable and distant? How many hours have I prioritized getting my outfit just right over getting my own heart right? I fear I have I spent more time worrying whether or not the Easter baskets are full enough than I have contemplating the fulfillment of God’s mercy. 

This is my plea this Sunday. Buy a new dress. Or come completely casual. Just come. Broken, imperfect, and fully present. Plan a big barbecue or pull out leftovers and take a family nap.  There are a thousand different ways to commemorate this Sunday. But when you come to the Father, come expectant. Hands open. Heart ready to receive the very best gift. 

Don’t confuse preparing the heart & home for a fancy exterior and a spotless house. Show up ready to enter in, already in a posture of worship. Reflect on the weight of this day and all it represents for Believers in Christ. Without this act of sacrifice, none of the other stuff matters. 

And rest in the assurance of what Christ’s surrender won you. 

Come prepared.