I read a story this weekend on how bees live. In fact, I really found it quite fascinating to learn about how to trap bees. It seems that a wide mouth jar with honey in the bottom of the jar is generally accepted to be the best way to attract these critters.
The author of the article went on to say that the whole process is really quite simple – you don’t even need a lid on the container. Any by all means, you don’t have to worry about the bees escaping. When asked why this is the case, he replied that it is due to the fact that bees don’t ever look “up.” So, they enter the jar, get stuck lurking around the bottom of the jar and never get out – all because they don’t look up!
It’s clear that this problem isn’t confined to bees. I think a number of humans struggle with the same thing. They get attracted to the things of this world and get stuck there – because they don’t think to look up!
But looking heavenward toward God and His Son, Jesus, is the best way there is to make sure that you never get stuck with worldly things. There’s so much more to life than what is offered to us here on earth. The real treasure is up above – and will be there when we spend eternity with God.
The whole purpose of Lent is to focus us on the the coming sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and we are quickly approaching the celebration of Easter next Sunday. Of course, we have Maunday Thursday and Good Friday as days of remembrance before we get to the celebration of Easter – the ultimate triumph of Jesus re-establishing a way for us to be eternally reunited with Him.
But today, Palm Sunday, marks the beginning of the last week of the earthly life of Jesus prior to the crucifixion. And as He rode into Jerusalem on a colt, the crowds threw their cloaks and palm branches along the path. By the way, did you know that the palm branches we use to celebrate today are burned, the ashes saved and then used to make the sign of the cross on our foreheads next Ash Wednesday? So we are connected year to year with the story of Easter.
Especially during this time of contemplation, including the solemn events of this week, the Last Supper, subsequent arrest of Jesus and all the other events we recall each year, we should be spending our time looking skyward and recognizing the cost that God, and Jesus, paid for the sins of the world. We focus on the earthly sacrifice of Jesus, but God also suffered. He lost His Son on the cross that day, who was obedient unto death, and even though we know the end of the story, we can’t help but consider what it would be like to forfeit a child for the sins of others. None of us would be fine with that, but God wanted to make sure that the price for sin was paid, even if He and Jesus had to pay the price themselves.
The truth of the matter is that when we look up, we are drawn closer to God and won’t end up like the bees. As Christians, we know we should look up and that is the way to escape the limitations of this world and this life.
Our verse tonight is from the Psalms. It is one of those psalms that is clearly intended to be an act of worship, turning toward God for strength and affirmation. Psalm 123:1-2, “I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.”
My encouragement this evening is that God wants us to focus on him – heavenward. And my prayer is that we will all be smarter than the bees who get trapped in the bottom of a jar – after all, we are made in God’s image and by Jesus dying on the cross, a way of being restored to Him was accomplished. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…