Note this bit of gorse bush. The whole year round the thorn has been hardening and sharpening. Spring comes. The thorn does not drop off and it does not soften. There it is, as uncompromising as ever; but halfway up appear two brown furry balls, mere specks at first, that break at last–straight out of last year’s thorn–into a blaze of fragrant golden glory! –Lilias Trotter

My friend offered these words with a single hyacinth bulb and a container for growing it. She wrote, “This is not a bit of gorse bush, yet is a bit of spring fragrance for the winter. Wishing you a joy-filled day.”

Her words offered hope that my difficult season would one day bring about a blaze of fragrant glory. Sometimes lying in my bed at night, all I could utter were single-word prayers, but they were filled with meaning. After receiving the gift and quote, I pictured the thorns of my life transforming into an unmatched fragrance of life and fullness.

Fullness. Did you know that when Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10 NIV), that the word “life” was not the Greek word bios but zoe? We’re invited out of daily mere existence to a life lived with passion and vitality.

Imagine taking the energetic zoe life God calls you to into the way you live and work, into your relationships and conversations, into how you take care of yourself, into all your choices, goals, and dreams.

That’s living. That’s thorns to  a blaze of fragrant glory.

What is one area of your life you’d like to live more energetically and passionately? What will you do differently? When will you begin?

But that’s also when it becomes Good Friday as we realize that torturuous death was love’s redemption. We who were created in God’s image, created to be in relationship with him, could know the restoration of deep connection and intimacy with him.

I wrote about that day in Scars that Wound, Scars That Heal–A Journey Out of Self-Injury:

Jesus had come to earth to put on human skin to live, breathe, feel, and hurt like you and I do. He had crazy expectations thrown at him. He was spat on, misrepresented, and betrayed—sometimes by those he was closest to.

He then endured humiliation and whippings, a crown of thorns pressed onto his head, a heavy cross placed on his shoulders, and nails hammered into his wrists and feet. So many wounds you couldn’t count them. But each welt, gash, and bruise on Jesus’ body shouts ‘I love you’ and, if accepted, is a gift of freedom and healing.

Only Jesus, as God come to earth, had the power to bear scars that have the ability to reach deep into the hearts of people and heal the hidden pain they feel inside. That’s why another cut or another burn or another punch to the wall isn’t enough. ‘Another’ is never enough. But the wounds Jesus bore are. As he took his last breath on the cross, he said, ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30). Wrapped up in those words is the power of his wounds—Jesus’ completion of God’s plan to set right each person’s messed-up relationship with him and to make it possible for them to experience the depth of his love.

Scars That Wound, Scars That Heal–A Journey Out of Self-Injury, p. 117

Though you may not self-injure, you may be well acquainted with your own hidden pain. Over the next days, it will be my prayer that you will experience the ‘good’ of this weekend of celebration, the power of Jesus’ wounds, the depth of his love.

1 Peter 3:15 says: “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (NIV).

An invitation to give real hope is tucked into that verse. It’s not just about logically being able to talk about who Jesus is and his gospel of salvation. There’s another layer that is just as important . . .

It’s also about explaining him, our source of hope, through how we live out our passion for him and our compassion for others.

But have reverence for Christ in your hearts . . .
My connection to Christ needs to be real, genuine, and held sacred. Then if I tell teens that Jesus loves them and that he offers real hope, then they may believe I mean it and that he did too. They’ll know I’m speaking of, and showing through my life, something I know personally and believe is vital to living each day.

. . . and honor him as Lord . . .
Though imperfect (very!), I seek to grow deeper in my connection to him, considering all aspects of how I honor him with my choices, especially how I love people. Then maybe I won’t get in the way of others seeing that Jesus really is God Immanuel (God with us). Someone I know. Someone they can know too.

Be ready at all times to give an answer . . . to explain the hope that is in you . . .
If I do these things, then I’m far more likely to be ready at all times (a goal I want to shoot for!) to explain the hope that is in me–through words and actions, and with gentleness and respect. Not because I can do that, but because God can.

Through how we live we show teens–really anyone–a real hope they may be longing for, a hope that is worth going after.

Being seen as a model or mentor isn’t worth much unless it’s rooted in a relationship with Jesus Christ that translates into solid values. What are people admiring in you? Looking up to? Can they say it’s because you’re living like Jesus?
–one of boxed tips included in Seduced by Sex, Saved by Love–A Journey Out of False Intimacy, p. 197