Friday, April 2, 2010

happy easter

all year do you know what i wait for... the reeses peanut butter egg. it is my favorite reeses of the year. the peanut butter to chocolate ratio is the best of any reeses all year. and when i see those yellow wrappers start to pop up in store windows, and at the front of cash registers. my heart leaps. it is my favorite part of spring. it means sunshine is coming, it means green grass, and tulips, and warm spring showers, are just around the corner. it means new life, and it means my pants are going to be a bit too tight if i keep buying one of those darn eggs every time i am at the register.


but spring is not just reeses eggs and tulips and sunshine. it isn't just bunny rabbits and paper grass filled baskets. it isn't easter egg hunts, and roast and mashed potatoes. spring is so much more.

it is new life, new beginnings, resurrection.


it is blood shed, and uncompromising love. it is forgiveness, and fresh starts. it is promise, and hope, and faith.


it is life.



every year i get so lost in dyeing eggs, and peanut butter eggs, and tulips, and sunshine, and trying to lose those extra 10 pounds before warm weather clothing season. i get so lost, that i forget to stop and think about what spring holds. promises. forgiveness. life.

and the reason we can celebrate is because someone far bigger than us, gave their life. sacrificed himself. gave His life, so that we may live.


God sent His Son Jesus, to this earth, to live a perfect a life. to live a perfect life, so that He could save us. God knew there was one way to give us all a life. and besides breathing breathe into our bodies, creating us with the utmost love and care; He gave us he greatest gift of all. His Son. and Jesus came to this earth as a baby boy, knowing full well the responsibilities that lay ahead of Him. He cam to this earth, to live and to save. The one thing that could pay for our sin, the one thing that could give us new life, new breathe, an eternity with God, was the blood shed of His only Son. and Jesus willfully gave it for us. He sacrificed Himself, so that we may have life.

I love this scene from The Passion of The Christ. Jesus is praying in the garden, talking to His father. He knows what is to come, He knows that soon He will draw His breathe. He knows that soon He will be beat, and humiliated, and slaughtered. He knows what is to come. and int hat moment... he prays. for strength, for courage, for an out. He asks if there is any other way Lord, please let it be. But if there is not, let Your will be done, not mine. Let me be the living sacrifice that saves these people from themselves, from their sin, from an eternal death. As He prays, in the movie, Satan comes to Him. satan says to Him; "Do you really believe that one man can bear the full burden of sin? No one man can carry this burden, I tell you, It is far too heavy. Saving their souls is too costly. No one. Ever. No. Never."


(start at 4:40)

It seemed impossible that one man can carry that burden. and it was too heavy, saving their souls was too costly. it cost Him His life. and it was my sin that held Him to that cross. my sin was the reason he had to die. He died for me. He died for everyone, but if I were the only person on the earth, He still would have died. because, i would have needed it. i would be unable to save myself. my sin held Him to that cross. My sin, Mine, Me. It was for me.

after seeing The Passion of The Christ, i said if i ever sin again, it will be too soon. and i meant it. i saw in pictures like i had never seen before, what my sin did to the one who loved me more than anyone else ever did. or ever could. and you know what, i can guarantee you that i didn't make it an hour before i sinned again. because that is who i am. human. i sin. i do it ever day, every hour, sometimes every minute. and that is why i needed Jesus. i needed Him to save me. i needed Him to sacrifice Himself. i needed Him to shed every drop of blood that He shed. i needed Him to die, so that i may live. and He drew that last breathe on that cross for everybody, for you... He drew that last breathe for me.


but the story did not end there. because the morning came... death didn't win. life won. 3 days later, the morning came, and Jesus was alive. and when he came to life, he had succeeded. He showed that the cost was great, but not too great. He showed that one man can carry this burden. He showed his undying love for us, for me. He showed that we too can have life.




They all walked away, with nothing to say,
They'd just lost their dearest friend.
All that He said, now He was dead,
So this was the way it would end.
The dreams they had dreamed were not what they'd seemed,
Now that He was dead and gone.
The garden, the jail, the hammer, the nail,
How could a night be so long.

Then came the morning, night turned into day;
The stone was rolled away, hope rose with the dawn.
Then came the morning, shadows vanished before the sun,
Death had lost and life had won, for morning had come.

The angel, the star, the kings from afar,
The wedding, the water, the wine.
Now it was done, they'd taken her son,
Wasted before his time.
She knew it was true, she'd watched him die too,
She'd heard them call Him just a man,
But deep in her heart, she knew from the start,
Somehow her Son would live again.

Then came the morning, night turned into day;
The stone was rolled away, hope rose with the dawn.
Then came the morning, shadows vanished before the sun,
Death had lost and life had won, for morning had come.

Then came the morning, shadows vanished before the sun,
Death had lost and life had won, for morning had come.

Morning had come.

Then Came The Morning
Bill Gaither


and that is what spring is about. new life. new life, that we have because Jesus gave His. new beginnings. forgiveness. forgiveness that God lavished on us, and we should lavish on others. Hope. Hope in Christ, and hope in things to come.

there is nothing wrong with eggs, and baskets, and bunnies, and tulips. but let us not lose sight of what the true meaning of easter is. let us not forget the death and resurrection, let us not forget the new life we were given, and the life that was sacrificed for us.


"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5

4 comments:

  1. You are so gifted. I love to read your words....I love to hear your heart! Expose your heart to others......it is beautiful and tender and gentle!!!

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  2. Amen, Melinda. Thank you for sharing these thoughts!
    Denise

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  3. Beautifully written and I love the videos!
    I am so glad that you found me, because I am glad that I found you! It is wonderful to find all of so many wonderful sister in Christ in blogland!
    Love,
    Joyce
    p.s. I threw your name in the hat for my give away. :)

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