Holy Week

'On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you. Exodus 12:16 NASB

There is a great deal packed into the little word "holy".  While pages could be spent considering the various implications of this one small word the core meaning of the word is: "to be set apart, separated, or other".  When we are told that our God is Holy it is not just a statement that He is unique in His righteousness (though He is set apart by His perfect righteousness), it is truly a statement that God exists totally independently of this created world.  For Israel God also set apart (declared "holy") several days in their calendar.  From Sabbaths, to the feasts (such as The Day of Atonement and The Feast of Tabernacles), to entire years (such as the Sabbath year and the Year of Jubilee).  For the Church God declared no such holy days, and thus our "Holy Week" is a week set apart by believers down through church history who longed to place the remembrance of Jesus' last week of earthly life into the calendar.  While God certainly is not keeping score of our Holy Week observations, He is certainly pleased whenever we set our gaze and our minds on the Savior.  May we do that precise thing this "Holy Week" and continue to do so until He returns.