Easter is not over yet, I still have about 1 hour to try and say something witty and profound before this topic will have to wait until 2013. You are welcome in advance!
So Easter has always been a holiday to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. But over time people got all offended at the name of Jesus and tried to take Him out of His own holiday…I was told by a friend that somewhere in the Northwest there is a school district that won’t call Easter eggs “Easter eggs” you have to call them “Spring spheres.” Yes, you read that correctly. So my question to them is, “does the word “egg” offend you too?” And the whole egg thing is weird enough, I would like to know who the person was who thought Eggs go perfectly with Jesus raising from the dead…..any thoughts on that?
Let’s go back to this week’s topic about choices. The greatest choice that was ever made was Jesus choosing to go through with the crucifixion for humanity. You see Jesus was 100% man AND 100% God, so He didn’t HAVE to go through with the crucifixion, He could have called in an army of angels to stop it at anytime but He said, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Luke 22:42). What Jesus was about to go through was not a foreign thing, it was a common practice for the Romans to crucify the guilty, where they would either tie or nail them to the cross until they died, which would take days. This was in practice from the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD. He knew what was awaiting Him, and it would be painful, BUT He still made the choice to go through with it. Romans 5:8 says, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
So the purpose of Jesus dying for us was to present a perfect sacrifice to God that was blameless but took on our iniquities and transgressions and God’s wrath was poured out on Jesus on the Cross that was meant for you and me, so that we could have an unhindered relationship with Him and to make it easy for us to get to heaven…but here is the “catch.” Jesus says, “I am the way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)So what He is saying here is, you can’t get to heaven through Buddha, Muhammad, a tree, by being a “good person” or any other “god” out there. Only through Jesus. Which some think is dumb, “if I’m a good person I will go to heaven.” FALSE. Don’t be so sure that your definition of “good” meets the standards of God’s definition of good. God is perfect, and His standards are so high that you will NEVER be able to reach them…but there is one person who could, and He stood in your place and took your judgment and is now the way that you can get to heaven with your imperfections and mistakes and sins. His blood has washed YOU as white as snow.
How does one get to Jesus? Well, contrary to popular belief you can’t just say, “ok I believe in Jesus now where is my mansion?” You have to, “declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9). Pay close attention to that part, believe in your heart. God knows if the words you are saying have no depth to them, those words need to come from the faith in your heart that Jesus is Lord and then declare it with your mouth.
Ask yourself this question, have I ever declared Jesus as my Lord because I was scared of hell but didn’t really know what I was saying? Did I believe in my heart before I declared it?
If you answered yes to either one do yourself a favor and examine your heart. Do you really believe that Jesus is your savior?
Maybe too many people are saying it without believing it, and that is why there are so many fake, lukewarm Christians out there giving Jesus a bad name. Food for thought. Don’t be that guy…
There aren’t fancy magical words that need to be said in a sentence, just say what is in your heart. For example, “Jesus, I believe that you died for me, I believe that you were raised on the third day and conquered death, for me. I believe that you love me more than you loved your own life and you died so that I can easily spend eternity in your beautiful presence. Work through me to be the person that YOU created me to be, teach me, guide me and give me wisdom in all that I do. Thank you for loving me enough to die for me and to wash away all of my sins.”
Now please don’t just think of Him on Easter and Christmas because He is worth so much more than a holiday, He is worth it to be your lifestyle. Choose to live your life for Him.
Now I will leave you with a song that is awesome...Happy Easter...
You have a gift of expressing Gods Truth in this time and culture. this is so " spot on " to accept him is not just a pledge we say with just he right words but needs to be from the heart. It is not a phrase or password that gets you in. Very thought provoking Thank you for putting this in words I can share with others too.You wrote from your heart. How do you fit this into all you are accomplishing and raising four children ...impressive .Dear Raema,I love you. This is Vinny's gmail account so I can read this, but my thoughts... Aunt Francine
ReplyDelete