What Easter Really Means.....

  Piper has her Easter egg hunt today at school and boy, she is so excited! The greatest thing about this Easter that is different than previous years is that Piper is beginning to understand (as much as a 4 year old can) what Easter is really about. Last night as we were saying our prayers at bedtime, she said, "Thank you God for Jesus dying on the cross for me and then letting Him wake up and be alive on Easter." I had to hold back my true excitement over what she had just said. My 4 year old gets that because of Jesus her life can be different than the worlds.
  Now I know we love the cute, cuddly side of the bunny and peeps, but the true reality is that Jesus Christ died a horrible death on a cross to cover not only my sins, but yours too. Have you ever really thought about how awful it was for Jesus to be betrayed by his closest friends, beaten, spit upon, whipped, and forced to carry the very cross he would soon hang from? Until this year, I really don't think that I ever really sat and truly tried to understand the suffering that Jesus went through before he even made it to the cross to die.

photo credit

   I have been reading Reliving the Passion by Walter Wangerin Jr. It is like a daily devotion that walks you through Jesus' last 40 days on earth. In this book, Walter does a great job of getting you to put yourself back in Jesus' time and truly become part of the picture so long ago. If you do this, a whole range of emotions will overcome you. The great part is, is that no matter how awful it was, I know how the story ends.
  It started with a baby born to a virgin that was named Jesus. He came to walk the earth to suffer and die for the sake of saving all of us who do not deserve it. His blood was shed to cover our sins. The beginning of the end was Jesus being raised from the dead and walking out of a grave to leave behind an empty tomb. Doesn't that give you goosebumps and get you excited....well it should!

Questions you could be asking...
Who Jesus is to you?
Do you believe that when people die they will spend eternity in either heaven or hell?

The Bible says...
in Romans 3:23 "All have sinned."
in Romans 6:23 "the wages of sin is death."
in John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
in Mark 1:17 "Come, follow me," Jesus said.
in Romans 10:9-11 "if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
  If you are willing to surrender your life to Christ what you need to do is simple. Believing that Jesus died on the cross to save you and rose again on the third day, ask God for forgiveness of all of your sins. Invite Him to become a part of your life and ask Him to change you so that you may be a living witness to the change only HE can bring.
  Guess what? If you just said that prayer than you are now a child of the Most High King. A son or daughter of God. You now have your name written in the Book of Life and will spend eternity in Heaven with our precious Savior. Oh, I can't wait!

well, I will leave you this week praying that you will stop and ponder what Easter is truly about and celebrate the risen Lord!