Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Do Not Forget To Dance For Joy!

     There are two beautiful passages worth reflecting on even during Holy Week when we are remembering all the dark days leading up to the  Resurrection.
     The first is in 2 Samuel 6, when David was bringing the Ark of the Covenant toward Jerusalem. We read about these scenes in which David was shouting for joy - leaping and dancing for joy before the Ark.  What did the Ark of the  Covenant represent?  For the Jewish people it represented the presence of God.  They carried the Ark around reverently for forty years in the desert to remind them that God was with them. So David was shouting for joy, leaping for joy and dancing for joy in the presence of God.
     The second passage is the Visitation in Luke 1.  Here we read about Elizabeth's unborn child, John the Baptist, dancing for joy in his mother's womb when he heard Mary's greeting. Of course Mary was also pregnant carrying the child Jesus. This makes Mary the Ark of the New Covenant. Why was John the Baptist leaping for joy? For the same reason David was, he was in the presence of God.
     Living in the presence of God causes us to dance for joy. It is easy to lose site of his presence. It is easy to wander from his ways.  It is easy to become blind to his presence as a result of the crippling selfishness that we all fall victim to if left to our own devices. But God doesn't leave us to our own devices.
     The presence of Jesus is powerful. People loved being near him.
     This Holy Week, take part in the powerful story going on before your eyes through the Last Supper, Good Friday and the Cross and the Joy of the Resurrection will invade your soul on Easter morning! He has risen! Jesus loves us! Let us dance for JOY!

1 comment:

  1. Amen, Lisa -- there's no better way to demonstrate that we are an Easter people than by dancing for joy! (Although you might want to avert your eyes if you ever see ME attempting to 'bust a move...'

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