“Bring good things out of the good stored up in (your) heart”
-Luke 6.45-

In honor of Good Friday, make a sacred promise during this venerated day based on a specific scripture you have been fulfilling over the years. May your sacred promise, however, express and emphasize a deep heartfelt desire to fulfill the scripture unlike ever before.

The ninth hour (3 pm)

The ninth hour (3 pm), is often regarded as the most sacred hour of Good Friday.

God fulfilled the most sacred divine promise found in the Old Testament scriptures – the reconciling death of a messiah to be followed by a resurrection.

By the ninth hour, darkness came over all the land, Christ spoke his last words, the earth quaked, and rocks were split. Jesus let out a loud cry “Father into your hands I commit my Spirit” and also cried “It is finished” and breathed his last and the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

Make a Sacred Promise in Honor of Good Friday

After reading and reflecting upon the sacred acts and words of the ninth hour on Good Friday, search the bible for a specific scripture, or recall a scripture, to be the source of your sacred promise. Then make a sacred promise based on the scripture that you recalled or found.

The scriptures encourage us to faithfully carry another’s burden, comfort those in trouble, honor the aged, and hear the groans of the wounded and dying, among other sacred acts. Some of these scriptures have been personalized below: 

• Do good works, which God prepared in advance for (me) to do (Ephesians 2.10) 

• As (I) have occasion, let (me) do good to everyone (Galatians 6.10) 

• Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is within (my) power to act (Proverbs 3.27) 

• Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way (I) will fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6.2) 

• Comfort those in any trouble with the comfort (I) receive from God (2 Corinthians 1. 4) 

• Be wise in the way (I) act toward (others); make the most of every occasion. Let (my) conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that (I) may know how to answer everyone (Colossians 4. 5 – 6) 

• Rise in the presence of the elderly, honor the aged (Leviticus 19.32) 

• Hear the groans of the dying rise from the city, and the souls of the wounded (that) cry out for help (Job 24.12)

Cross Your Heart in Honor of Good Friday

Culture has encouraged the act of placing your hand over your heart as a gesture of reverence and honor. It is an act that symbolizes seriousness and sincerity and anything that you say at that very moment is to be trustworthy.

As a boy, I can remember taking my index finger and with two small gestures gently impress Christ’s cross over my heart while declaring “I promise.”

You are encouraged to place your hand over your heart as a gesture of reverence and honor at or during the ninth hour on Good Friday. Let this act symbolize a strong sense of seriousness and sincerity that evolved from the depths of your heart and soul.

You are also encouraged to take your index finger and with two small gestures gently impress Christ’s cross over your heart, your most inner place of passion, as an expressive commitment to “bring good things out of the good stored up in (your) heart (Luke 6.45).”

And at that very moment, declare your chosen scripture as a sacred promise that you will begin to faithfully fulfill unlike ever before.