"Remember how He told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: "The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again."-Luke 24:5-7
Today marks the most important day in all of existence. Today and what happened on this day in regards to the resurrection of Jesus is the most pivotal occurrence from the author of salvation. Had Jesus not risen from the dead, and on top of that done it on the third day, he would have just been a "good guy." I hope you understand that it is this pivotal moment that connects all of the dots for our salvation.
I took a week off of writing as I spent some vacation time with my family. Over the past two weeks I've been really thinking about two things: What gets in our way from experiencing the fullness of a relationship with Christ, and what is the strength of the confidence I have in Jesus.
First, what is it that gets in the way of us experiencing a full relationship with Jesus? There are so many things in our world that give us control. If I want to go somewhere, I point my car in that direction and press the one on the right. If I want to eat pizza everyday, I can do that. If I want to binge watch GOT (sorry fans, but I've never even watched one episode) I can! God has given us such wonderful abundance and many times if not viewed correctly the abundance of busy"ness" can get in our way. Another thing that gets in our way is what I call "Detoured Directions." How many times have you put in your navigation a spot and then given a detour? You're still going towards your destination, however you are going on a slower and unknown route. How many times have you done that in your faith walk. This past week the tragic fire at Notre Dame occurred and I kept hearing on the news all about the relics saved and the relics lost. So many people on the news were so saddened by this loss. When I thought about it though, I realized that they were saddened about a detour. A relic cannot give you salvation. A job well done cannot give you everlasting life. There is only one who can offer you eternal salvation and that is Jesus. So often I catch myself drinking salt water. As I was in the Bahamas this past week, I noticed how clear the water was. Colors of bright blue that just screamed purity, but one mouthful of it through a crashing wave and it crunched of salt. From the outside there are many things that look and feel like water, but they are actually the exact opposite of what you need. CS Lewis in The Screwtape Letters talks about how the devil uses a gentle slope of comfort and that you don't even realize the smallest hint of temptation/justification can keep you in the clutches of the enemy. Just as the angels of the Lord spoke to the women in the empty tomb: "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, He has risen!" Anything you're pursuing that does not have Jesus as the central focus is simply salty water. A routine, a ritual, a perfect family.....all of this if not rooted in Jesus is simply the pursuit of death. With Jesus we are given life!
The second thing I've been thinking about this week is what would my reaction be on the Saturday after Jesus died on the cross? I certainly know my faith is strong, but is it strong enough to believe that He actually is going to rise from the dead? There have been many times in my own life that I have unfortunately said "There isn't anything that can be done." Me of little faith! Jesus told His disciples that there would be mourning by them and others would be cheering upon His death, but that on the third day, their mourning would turn to joy! To me this brings me comfort in knowing that Jesus's closest disciples would be mourning and that Jesus told them they would. He told them that because they are human and He is our Savior. This tells me that you cannot box in Jesus. He made the impossible possible. He did the very thing that no one could ever do. He truly is the Author of Salvation.
Happy Easter!
Cameron
Comments
Post a Comment