Back Burner: chapter 1

It started on Monday, March 26, 2018.

It was the week leading up to Easter.

I had decided to do a three day fast, the Monday through Wednesday of that week. It had been a while since I had fasted. To be honest, I must have ignored the prompting to fast a bunch of times before I decided to do this one. That's usually what happens with me. I feel like I should, and then I make an excuse why I don't. Can you relate to procrastination of something your head/heart is nudging you to do? Great. We'll get along VERY well.

But there was something different about this week.

​I can't remember what prompted it, but I was feeling curious about the history behind it. I knew bits and pieces, but still felt pretty uneducated about it. So, as is my personality, I started digging into it.

​I wanted to know what the four gospels of the New Testament said about the week before Easter. So off to google I went. Yup...google. That's how I roll. 

Specifically, I read the sections in Matthew, Mark, Luke & John that talked about Jesus' entry into Jerusalem in the days that would ultimately end in his crucifixion and resurrection.

I googled "How long from Nazareth to Jerusalem?"

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​In each of the four readings, something different popped off the page. I'll share them with you in order, and leave you with a question, after.

Matthew 2: 1-11

(v.10) "When Jesus entered Jerusalem the whole city was stirred and asked, "who is this?"

Mark 11: 1:11

(v.2) "saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here."

Luke 19: 28-44

(v. 34) "They replied, "The Lord needs it."

John 12: 12-19

(v.16) "At first his disciples did not understand all of this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him."

The bolded areas above meant the most to me on that first day of the fast. I'll share more in the next few chapters as to why, and how they'll be the foundation for everything we will learn in our time together.

​First days of a fast are tough. Beyond the obvious part where I crave just about everything I usually don't care about for food, the quiet is the hardest part for me. Sitting patiently with my own thoughts, wanting the Lord to make sense of them. Drinking lots of water, and doing lots of waiting. Rinse. Repeat. That's how it was for me.

So about that question I promised you...

Have you ever felt a sense that something was on the way? Something...just beneath the surface. Something in your heart that just felt, well...different?

Look at the verse from Matthew, and the word I bolded.

Stirred.

By the end of the first day of my fast one phrase came to mind. I would think about it the rest of the night. It was like a teaser to a movie I had yet to see. I'll leave it here for you to ponder and let it do the same...until my next post.

"IT STARTS WITH A STIRRING."

Your reaction might be like mine was that day...

​What?

What starts with a stirring?

​More on that in the next Chapter of Back Burner. 

Until Then.

Blessings,

​-Brett