A Time of Love

Hi Girls,

Happy Easter!! I hope that we all remember to thank Jesus for his gift of love to us today. Easter is more than what society would make us out to think that it is. What does Easter mean to you? Really mean to you? Like, all Christians would say Easter is a time to remember Jesus's life, death and resurrection. Sure, definitely. But does that go beyond Church on Sunday? How do you really celebrate Easter with that in mind and not get distracted by all the stuff with the bunny and chocolate (not to say there is anything wrong with sweet treats!)?

I think sometimes Christians are very 'churchy' like they have the fundamental head beliefs and they go through the motions but it doesn't really penetrate beyond that. Easter becomes something of a religious function I guess. Ever had that feeling? Like sitting in church or hearing someone speak on Easter, and it just strikes you as performing a function, doing the normal holiday thing? Does it really effect people's inner beings, their emotions, their faith?

Well, I hope we can change that in ourselves today. I hope that today becomes a celebration of God's love, whereby we truly and honestly can thank him from the bottom of our hearts. After all, look at how messed up we are, how much we screw up, how much we keep coming to God for forgiveness- let's thank him that we can do that. Thank Him that Jesus took sin and death and broke it's power over us, that he essentially 'killed' it from controlling us and set us free to experience his love, to have eternal life and live as free people with clean slates. This is an amazing day of thank yous! Thank you God for loving us so much that you would send your son; thank you Jesus that you obeyed your father and went through all the terrible stuff to bring the people that you love into life!

Remembering this is so important because it's like the cornerstone of our Christian faith. When Jesus rose again, he proved that death has no power. He proved that God is all powerful! And we know that one day when we die, we will all 'rise again' to live forever with Jesus in the Father's kingdom. So this is a time for celebration, happiness, and to also remember at what great cost our freedom was bought. What began when sin became rampant on the Earth, ended with Jesus's resurrection and gave us the ability to approach Jesus with our prayers and requests.

There is so much more to the story of Easter though. It's a rather complex story if you really think about it in detail. It's a story about freedom from the law (remember the law God gave Moses, who gave to the people, so they could repent and live right?), that's all gone with Jesus. We just need to follow him in all ways. It's also a story about how much God loves us. Think about it; mothers can especially attest to this. Who would want their child to experience such suffering as Jesus did? Someone would rather take the suffering upon themselves than have their family member experience it. Yet God knew what the cost of our sin was, he knew it would take his very son whom he loved so much. I think only a parent can fully understand the significance of this but most of us could probably imagine pretty well. God loved us so greatly that he sent Jesus to pay the price of our sin.

So today, let's make sure we say thank you. Let's celebrate God's love for us, celebrate Jesus's actions and faith in his Father's will. So go ahead and have fun, eat your sweet treats, lots and lots of chocolate..haha but do it with the truth in mind. Thank Jesus that you are able to have fun and eat sweet stuff with the knowledge that God loves you so much and wanted you free from sin/death so that you can have forever to spend with him in Heaven.