Monday, April 1, 2013

Easter's Over???

Yesterday was Easter. Today is not Easter. Is Easter over?
The answer is a plain and simple but resounding NO! Easter isn't Christmas. When Christmas night comes I am always hit with a bit of angst that Christmas is over until next year.
I love holidays! I love the memories, traditions (including the new traditions that we've done once so it becomes a tradition), decorations, food and the list goes on! Given enough time and energy I have often put up more than a couple of Christmas trees! Christmas music and the sights and sounds and smells of Christmas fill the air!
I love Valentine's Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Fall and Thanksgiving! And they all come and go until next year.
Easter? Not so much! Easter is more than a holiday; Easter is a matter of the heart! Easter is the hinge upon which all of life depends for the Christian. And this matters in humongous ways!
We live in a secular even hostile and pagan world in increasing measure. No longer is our world covered with a thin veneer of Christian faith! That's one reason Easter is so critical! Easter is all about the resurrection. If Jesus only died, then He did no more than any other man. His death alone isn't the pivotal issue. His death bracketed by life on both sides is the essential essence of Easter!
Easter matters and it matters every minute, hour and day of life for a believer. We MUST live in the peace and hope of the resurrection before a watchin' world! The resurrection of Jesus is the heart of why and how Christian believers all over the world are salt and light in a dark, broken world. The other wonderful thing about Easter is that God has built in a weekly reminder as each Sunday - in a sense - is Resurrection Day! Easter must matter in how I live, think and act!
Easter is more huge on my horizon this year than ever before. My sweet Daddy went to heaven last August leaving a huge hole in this world! At Christmas I wondered about what Christmas in heaven is like and shed a few self-serving tears. But yesterday - as we sang and worshipped the Living Savior - I pondered Easter in heaven and concluded that it's always Easter in heaven, always all about the Resurrection. Heaven's light according to Revelation 21:23 is the Light of the World - Jesus!

Jesus, may the power of your resurrection, we celebrated yesterday, show up in our disruptions & disappointments today!  (Thanks, Scotty Smith, for this "nails it on the head" prayer!)

No comments: