March Meanings

What comes to mind when you think of the month of March? The Ides of March? March Madness? St. Patrick’s Day? Mardi Gras? Texas Independence Day? Spring Break? Time Change Sunday? My grandfather, mother and grandson were born in March. If you were born in March, your flower is the daffodil. Sometimes we celebrate Good Friday and Easter in March. Actually today, March 22 is the earliest day on which Easter can fall. This year we don’t celebrate Easter until April 4, which means next Sunday is Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday represents the beginning of the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. It was a common custom in many lands to cover, in some way, the path of someone thought worthy of the highest honor. 2 Kings 9:13 reports that Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, was treated this way. John specifically mentions “branches of palm trees” being placed on the road before Jesus (Jn. 12:12). The palm branch was a symbol of triumph and of victory, in Jewish tradition (Lev. 23:40; Rev. 7:9). Why not take what’s left of March to celebrate our Lord’s victory. That would make Easter a real Super Sunday.

Meanwhile, join me in praying for these global concerns:
• Continue to pray for relief work in Haiti and Chile.
• Continue to pray for churches of metro Vancouver as they follow up on Winter Olympic ministry.
• Pray for missionaries as they prepare to bear witness to Jesus Christ at the Easter season.
• Pray for Cathie (Spain) as she recovered from still another surgery.