This is the day the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Please, Lord, please save us.
Please, Lord, please give us success.
Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Psalm 118:24-26
Yesterday we celebrated Palm Sunday, the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to the shouts or praise and waving of branches. Out of the four Gospels, only John describes the branches and palms, the other three record them as branches from the fields. In Biblical times there were usually two types of branches that were waved, the Palm and the Willow. The palm was symbolic of royalty and victory. The willow on the other hand represented sorrow, tears and pain. Leviticus 23:40 speaks of a palm and willow branches to be taken to rejoice before the Lord. A picture of life, sometimes there will be palm days and sometimes there will be willow days, but both branches are to be waved in rejoicing before the Lord.
We think only of victory as a time of rejoicing, like when Jesus rode into Jerusalem as the overcoming King, because the people believed He was going to save them from Rome. However within a few days, the opinion would turn into a time of sorrow when they realized Jesus was a different kind of king, One who would secure eternal victory by laying down His life on a cross. The reed the guards gave Him to hold was probably a willow reed of defeat, a far cry from the waving palm branches of victory. But soon victory would overcome defeat forever! Maybe your have a willow time in your life, I encourage you to take that branch and wave it before the Lord and rejoice in Him. In time your willow branch will be lowered and your will be waving your palm in victory and walking in joy, peace and success. The sorrow, the tears and pain will become a distant memory and you will be walking in the Light that shows you things you never thought you could accomplish. This is the day the Lord has made, so rejoice! And in time He will give you success.
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