It's a GREAT Friday

Doesn't it strike you as kind of funny that in our day in age, when society is all about new religions, protecting rights and not wanting to offend anyone....today is still known as Good Friday.  Doesn't that just prove the power Jesus had and how He forever changed our world when He came to die for you and I.  When the Bible speaks of God as the same yesterday, today and forever...it really is true.  Even in 2012, Good Friday is still on the calendar.  I love it!
Well, it is Good Friday.  But I choose to rename it, "GREAT Friday."  It is great how Jesus died for me and because of that I not only have the gift of eternal life, but I have a relationship with the Creator of the Heavens and Earth.  I know personally the King of Kings.  He knows my name, He knows the very hairs on my head.  How great is that!
It is especially a great Friday because of where I was last Good Friday.  I remember very vividly attending the very first church service in prison.  It so happened to be Easter Sunday.  How fitting.  But in prison, every day is the same.  There really isn't a big recognition for holidays...in fact, most times you want to forget it is a holiday so that you aren't burdened with the thought of missing that holiday with your family and friends. 
God blessed me with a christian woman that became a friend while in prison. When Good Friday rolled around, we both discussed the importance of that day and what we would be doing if we were at home with our families and at our church.  We decided to commemorate Good Friday by fasting all that day.  Now, I have fasted before.  It usually isn't a real difficult thing.  However, there, in that setting, it took on a sacrifice of great proportion.  We weren't able to skip meals.  Even if you didn't want to eat, you still had to get up with the rest of the offenders and walk over to the dining hall, get a tray and sit there for the meal.  So, my friend and I did just that. Each meal we walked over, grabbed our trays and sat there while the rest of our table ate their meals.  Now typically we wouldn't be missing out on much. Prison food isn't incredible. But of course, the day we chose to fast was the day that the cafeteria served the best meals on the menu.  Spaghetti with bread sticks, dessert and the whole nine yards.  There weren't any complaints from our dining mates.  They got to have the extra off of our trays. 
It was a small sacrifice for us to make in light of the painful sacrifice the King made for us that day.  We gave up a few meals, He gave up His life. 
That Easter weekend will forever be burned in my memory.  That Sunday my fasting friend and I sat in the small prison chapel singing songs of resurrection, salvation and freedom in surroundings that spoke defeat, death and confinement.  But in our hearts we knew who we still served and what we were celebrating.  Death couldn't stop Jesus and prison gates were not going to stop us from remembering the true freedom we gained through that Easter weekend so many years ago.
Praise and overwhelming thanksgiving goes to my Heavenly Father for His love.....a love He had for me that was so great, He gave His Son's life for mine.  Can you even wrap your mind around that?  I can only catch a glimpse of that love.  But I am thankful that He offers it to me.

Nails couldn't keep You down
The grave couldn't keep You in
Hell couldn't  keep You out
You reign, You reign
         -- "Higher", Worth Dying For