Okay, so I did it! Hit snooze once, but up at 6:09. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I will forgive myself 9 minutes and consider it a win. :-)

So I'm praying this morning and, does this ever happen to you? Do you ever meditate on Jesus, or on the faith, and then something you already know just hits you? I mean, something you know intellectually, but now it just hits your heart? Well I'm thinking about the Passion this morning and, at first, this terrible thought creeps in my head that lots of innocent people have been tortured and killed. Maybe even a few endured it out of love. I didn't go so far as to think, what's the big deal about the Passion, but I was headed down that line of thinking to be completely honest. And then it hit me, again something I know, but it hit me in my soul; this Is God who allowed himself to be tortured and killed for love of us. Creator of the whole Universe and everything in it. So, number 1, obviously He did not have to endure it. Yes, other humans have been unjustly tortured, and may have even borne it for love of others, but they had no power to stop it. Jesus had that power if He had desired to use it. Smiting would be pretty easy for Him you know? But He didnt!

Number 2, think of how extra horrifying it is when we hear of someone killing their own family, particularly their own mother or father. All murder upsets us obviously, but there is something extra unsettling about matricide or patricide. And here, man did not just kill our own father, but again, the creator of the Universe! Literally, the father of everything! If patricide is horrifying, how mind boggling is Deicide??? And yet the Lord not only allowed Himself to be treated in this cruel fashion, He turned it around and made the ultimate good come of it - our salvation! He took the most heinous act one could think of - the murder of our own GOD - and used it to save us!!!! Holy cow!

You probably think I'm crazy, because of course we all know this, but this morning I really felt it. Thank you Jesus. What can anyone say to that? How do you repay it? You can't, He doesn't even expect you to, other than to Love Him with all your heart, by keeping His commandments, always choosing the good, and loving others as you love yourself. That's it. Small price to pay really. I mean, why is it so hard to get up at 6:00 am when He did all that, and I only have give up an hour of sleep for 40 days, of my own choosing, just to help me grow closer to Him. No big whoop right?