Easter is only a week away and many
people are getting ready to celebrate.
Easter egg hunts are organized, churches plan for communion, foot
washing ceremonies, Good Friday and Sunday sunrise se
Can you imagine what our life would
be like if Jesus hadn’t come as the perfect sacrifice? God has been since time began. He created the perfect world, yet man chose
to sully it with sin. Since the first
infraction, we have continued to make bad choices! Yet God in his divine mercy forgives us. He doesn’t look at us without compassion or
understanding when we repent, but stretches out his arms and welcomes us back
into his arms.
King David was considered “a man
after God’s own heart,” yet he was human and often made bad choices. He chose many wives and specifically another
man’s wife, had an affair, had the husband killed and more. Still he cried out to God, “Don’t give up on
me!” He loved God and was passionate about worshiping him. He asked for God to
“Create in me a clean heart!” and begged God to not “banish him from his
(God’s) presence.” David recognized his
failures, repented and accepted the punishment.
King David was not the only Biblical
figure to make bad choices. Cain killed his brother; Abraham lied to kings as
he traveled; King Saul who actually started out good, ended up trying to kill
David; and Saul who later became Paul, was adamant about persecuting Christians
before God changed his life.
We
are no different. Everyday we make
choices and everyday we fail. We are
nothing more that broken vessels who keep trying to live according to God’s
will. Our lives can often be paralleled
to the dry, broken, bones as described in Ezekiel before God breathed life into
them. Just as God breathed new life into
those dry bones, He breathes new life into us daily as we repent of our
failures and start anew. Every day
offers a new opportunity to make things right!
When
God makes the changes others can see, are we surprised? I think sometimes we might be. There are times when God makes such dramatic
changes in lives, there is an element of surprise and perhaps even suspicion. Consider again, Saul who became Paul. People weren’t sure they could trust him
since they were completely aware of his past behaviors.
People
can be uncertain how to respond to us when we’ve allowed God to restore us to
His salvation and creates in us the genuine desire to follow His will and
choose his guidance and direction over the ways of the world.
As
a child of the King, we need not be surprised at his ability to change a mere
human’s heart. He’s done other great
things, even giving life to the dead.
Jesus, the Messiah, is the perfect example of this. Jesus willingly went to the cross as the
perfect sacrifice and then he was raised from the dead so we can be assured of
serving a living God.
God
kept his promise to send the Messiah. It
is this reason we celebrate Resurrection Sunday. He will also keep his promise to again
return. I hope you’re ready!
Happy
Easter, everyone!
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