The First Long Thursday Post

So Thursdays have always been my favorite day of the week...

This is not some haphazard statement with no thought behind it.  Allow me to explain my reasoning for this and why I think, just by process of elimination, it is the best day. 

No one in their right mind would say that Monday is the greatest day.  (Unless, of course, he/she is a postal worker and it is a federal holiday, but how many of these are there--federal holidays, not postal workers--really?)  Tuesday or Wednesday?  Come on now.  You might be able to make a case for Wednesday because it is "hump day" and marks the mid-point of the week, but this will only work if you are a "glass-half-full" kind of person.  Granted, Friday is very strong candidate.  So strong that I will come back to it.  Saturday?  Who among us hasn't made it to the end of a Saturday and asked, "Where did THIS day go?"  I can tell you where it went:  soccer games, birthday parties, weddings, and yard work. 

For followers of Christ, Sunday is the day that defines our faith.  It is the day that Christ victoriously rose from the grave, and the day that we gather together with other believers to worship, strengthen ourselves through fellowship, celebrate our faith, and fill ourselves with truth from Scripture.  Yet for those of us who belong to the guild of vocational ministers, Sundays are anything but a day of rest.  Don't get me wrong.  I absolutely love Sundays, but a big part of me breathes a deep sigh of relief when they are over.  Hence, they get the Silver Medal behind Thursdays. 

That only leaves Fridays.  Here is the problem with Fridays:  too much pressure.  Most people look forward to Friday like it is the antidote for some terminal illness.  Have you ever heard anyone say "TGIW," or "Thank God it's Wednesday!"?  Not usually, unless you really, really like choir practice at church.  You are much more likely to hear, "Ugh, if I can just make it to Friday!"  But what if Friday can't deliver?  Rebecca Black didn't help things when she sang, "It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday" (italics added).  Do I really "gotta get down on Friday?"  There have been way too many times when I woke up on a Saturday morning and thought to myself, "Boy, last night sure was a bust."  Then it is time to get up and go to the soccer games, birthday parties, weddings, and do yard work.  Friday has the possibility of being great, but it also has the possibility of being a huge disappointment.

Not the case with Thursday.  It has all the possibility and none of the pressure.  You can easily tell yourself on Thursday, "Oh, man, I got this week!" and still really mean it.  You know that you are on the back side of the slope of the week and on Thursday, you start picking up speed.  You stay up too late on Thursday?  No problem!  The next day is Friday and it doesn't even really count.  Some of my friends even work a half day on Friday.  Who cares about a half day?! 

(Incidentally, comedy on television has always been better on Thursdays, too.  Would "Cheers," "The Cosby Show," "Family Ties," Friends," "Seinfeld," or "The Office" have been so successful if they had been on, say, Tuesday?  I think not.  Everyone seems to be in the mood to laugh on Thursday.)

Thursday has this cool, "Almost, but not quite" vibe to it.  I can see where I am headed, I am almost there, and I know I am going to make it.  All the potential, but none of the pressure.

And as a follower of Christ, this is where I find myself...on one Long Thursday.  I know that my Redeemer lives and has gone to prepare a place for me (John 14:3), and I know that He is coming back to get me.  But not quite yet.

Beyond this life lies unimaginable joy, security, peace, and comfort.  Past this, our loved ones and the cloud of faithful witnesses who have preceded us in death wait to welcome us into eternal fellowship with our Savior and endless praise of the One who made an eternity with our Creator possible.  But not quite yet.

So here we are on our Long Thursday, and we can live our lives knowing that we got this.  We can take risks, laugh hard, live strong, and love deeply knowing that our Long Thursday won't last forever.  Sure, this "Thursday" is long and we will experience pain, heartache, and even death.  But we know that Friday is coming, right?!  Coming, but not quite yet.

We can also invite others to join in the celebration of waiting with us.  The more the merrier!  We can show people that living on this Long Thursday isn't so tough if you know what comes on "Friday."  If we are going to have to wait anyway, why not "make the most" out of the time we have left on this, our Long Thursday (Ephesians 5:16)?

This is why Thursdays are my favorite days.  Every one of them reminds me of the promise of what comes next for those who follow Christ.  And every one challenges me to think about how I am living and serving others while I wait.

No matter what day of the week it is, those who follow Christ can live life to the fullest.  And why wouldn't we?  No matter how much longer our Long Thursday is, we know that it will eventually come to an end and this life will be nothing more than a faint, misty memory.  As Matt Redman wrote, "there will be an end to these troubles..." 

But not quite yet.