Recently, my students asked if it was possible to “skip” the Easter lesson this year. “We hear the same details every year, but aren’t we always talking about Jesus?” It caused me to ask them if they understood why we talk about Christ’s death and resurrection at this time of year. They knew the facts. This led me to delve in and ask, “What does this mean to you? How has the “story” of Easter and what Jesus did changed who you are?”
This is where the conversation got sticky and uncomfortable. They wanted to gloss over hearing the “tale” again, they thought they had heard it a million times in a million ways. However, when pressed to go beyond hearing and bringing Jesus home then this was another conversation entirely.
Any of us in love with Christ understand the power of this time of year. We embrace the remembering and celebration.
Yet, How do we help others grasp what this means for them? It begins with knowing if we really know what it means for us:
Do you wonder?
Christmas and Easter should not be the only times that we pull out the good news of Christ. The tendency can be to hyper focus twice a year. Instead these are cornerstones of God’s story in our relationship. I think the reason it happens this way, is we rarely lay in wonder of what it all means. He causes reconciliation in the most broken of relationships. His birth, death and resurrection are the reason we are free to be His. Think about that baby in a stable around August. Think about the empty tomb in October. When we ponder these momentous occasions often there is nothing less that we can do than give Him away constantly.
Are you in love with Him?
I didn’t ask if you love Jesus. I asked if you were “in” love with him? Remember that first boyfriend/girlfriend? All you wanted to do was lay your head on their shoulder, hold their hand and talk to them 24 hours a day. Is this how you feel about Christ? Instead do you endure him? Do you avoid time with him because it feels cumbersome? Be honest with where you are at your relationship with your Lord. It isn’t about the fluff of that “new love.” True love is an action. It is a choice of faithfulness and a fierce tenacity to be close. The days get hard. Yet, the longer your love affair the deeper and richer it becomes. Do you need to rediscover your “first love”?
Be Still and Know He is YOUR God
When is the last time you stole away for true alone time, just you and your Savior? Do you truly know He is yours and you are His? He tells us this over and again. We are HIS child, bride, disciple, friend, servant, heir. It isn’t that we have a place we belong, we have a God to whom we are brought close. He is not a distant, cold God. Start with 5 minutes today. Then set time aside in the next week to make it longer.
Be vulnerable with the Lord. If your heart is heavy tell him. However, this day called Easter restored our relationship with the Living God. It should be an event we celebrate without ceasing. The weight of His glory should leave us speechless… always. When Jesus conquered death, it changed our relationship with God forever. Celebrate Easter now, on April 20 and everyday. What about buying that “Easter bundle” in June?
“He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.” Ephesians 1:7
How are you celebrating Easter daily?
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