I sit here tonight
and pray as I should.
As I do reflect
on this day we call “Good”.
I try to imagine,
if I had been there.
Would I have noticed,
would I even care?
People are dying
out there on the hill.
That’s just what happens
to that kind of swill.
The crowd’s cheering loudly,
is that my voice too?
I want no part of this,
this king that’s a Jew.
Why do the shouts seem
so loud in my ear?
What did I do that
has brought me so near?
It seems I am stuck here,
suspended in air.
I wish that the truth was,
this punishment’s not fair.
But as I consider
the things I’ve done wrong.
It starts to sink in,
this is where I belong.
I lived like I wanted,
life was all about me.
It was my sinful choices
that put me here on this tree.
There are two men with me,
quite different are they.
As I listen closely,
I hear one of them pray.
“Father, forgive them”
were the words that I heard.
From where I am hanging,
that sure sounds absurd.
The other man’s yelling,
and mocking the first.
As the man they call Jesus
cries out, “I do thirst!”
The insults continue,
but I’ve had my fill.
I say, “We deserve this
for what we thought was a thrill.”
We got what was coming
from the choices we made.
But that’s not the case
with Him, I’m afraid.
There’s no fault within Him,
He’s innocent for sure.
Yet He still hangs there
and I watch Him endure.
I realize this moment
requires my all.
So I turn to the Christ
and on His name I call.
Jesus, remember me
when you reach your kingdom.
He says I’ll be with Him,
then He says “It is done!”
It was quite a journey,
I’ve not left my chair.
But I look at my life
and I’m sure I was there.
My sin hung there with Him,
it was nailed to that tree.
I must make a choice,
which thief there was me?
The one I have chosen,
I pray you do too.
Is to cry out to Jesus,
let me be with you!
So my life did not end
as it looked like it would.
It is only beginning
on this Friday called “Good”!
© 2014 by Tom Lemler
We had a great Good Friday service and I was spending time in my office praying afterward as I waited for the building to clear so I could get it ready for Sunday. As I did so, God put this poem in my mind so I typed it out to share with you. I pray that it helps you to examine the events of Good Friday from a fresh perspective. I pray that you choose to cry out to Jesus to remember you! I pray that this poem brings glory to God and accomplishes His purposes for it.
In prayer,
Tom
Reblogged this on Tom's Treasure and commented:
Re-posting a poem I wrote 4 years ago as it says a lot about this day we call Good Friday.