After Christmas last year, my Pastor preached a message that really stuck with me. His message was titled, “Don’t put Jesus in a box.” He used the illustration of people decorating for Christmas. These people would be happy, and gladly talk about the birth of Jesus. However, after Christmas was over, those same people would pack up their decorations and not really talk about Jesus to their friends and family until the next year.
A very similar thought was on my mind this weekend. This thought came upon me while getting to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The thought that came upon me was, that as Christians, we should be celebrating the Resurrection and telling people about Jesus and His love every day, not just on the holiday of Easter.
Now I know that this Easter was very different than any other Easter many of us have celebrated before. Instead of getting ourselves and our kids dressed up in our new, brightly colored clothes and going to church, many of us wore our everyday clothes or even the clothes we slept in and watched services from out tvs, computers, or phones. Instead of going out and hiding eggs like I am used to, we sat inside as a very good rainstorm that brought forth lots of rain, wind, downed trees and power poles, and flooding was going on outside. Instead of all the family members getting together to eat a delicious Easter dinner, many stayed home, cooked their own meals, and talked to loves ones via the cell phone or social media due to many people distancing themselves from others. Many things changed, but Jesus Christ did not. He does not change. (Hebrews 13:8)
Even though this Easter was different, God’s power and love did not change. Even though today is not the day we celebrate Easter according to the calendar, we can still celebrate His resurrection and His love. No matter what you are going though today, these difficult and confusing times do not change the fact that God loves you. He loves you so much that He sent his Son so that you could be saved. (John 3:16) Just because there are hard times in our land, does not change the fact that Jesus died for you and I. 1st Peter 2:24 tells us, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose strips ye were healed. “
Jesus carried our sins to the cross and became a curse for us. (Galatians 3:13) However, He took more than your sins to that tree. We have already read in 1st Peter 2:24 that by whose strips ye were healed. He took a beating so our bodies could be whole. Isaiah 53 verses 4 and 5 tell us, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Jesus took our sins, our iniquities, our peace, and our sickness, to the cross with Him. On that cross, He said these three words, “IT IS FINISHED.”
Jesus died on that cross and was buried in a tomb. His disciples were scared and had lost all hope. Maybe you are in the same boat as the disciples today. Maybe you are scared, confused, and thinking there is no hope. However, on that first Resurrection Sunday, the stone was rolled away and Jesus rose up out of that tomb. Those disciples regained hope and they knew that everything was going to be alright. Well, I want to tell you today that HE IS RISEN and everything is going to be alright. Jesus is alive today and we don’t have to wait until next year to celebrate His resurrection or to tell others of His love. Today is the day that the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it. (Psalms 118:24) Are we rejoicing in this day, or are we complaining and living in fear this day? We have a choice to make every day. Are we going to rejoice in the day and the victory that God gave to us, or are we going to complain and wait until next Easter to remember what He did for us? We don’t have to wait until Easter to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. We don’t have to wait until next year to tell others of His love. Let’s take advantage of the gift God gave us and use TODAY. I am reminded of a quote by Mother Teresa when she stated, “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” Let’s begin to celebrate His love and resurrection today. Let’s be like Joshua and proclaim that we make a choice today “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15
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