I hope everyone had a great Easter holiday. It seems that the older I get, the more Easter means to me. Easter is the reason why I have eternal life. It is why I am able to have a personal relationship with the God of all creation. Easter is a day full of great traditions and activities. However, I feel that the greatest thing about Easter is that it reminds us to stop and reflect on what Jesus did for us on the cross.
Me and Jamie were able to start reflecting of Christ's death earlier this week when we attended a free viewing of The Passion of the Christ movie at a local theater here in Shamrock. Although I had already seen it, it had been a while and I knew I needed to see it again. Just like the first time, it was hard to watch. Although it wasn't easy viewing, I really appreciated what the makers of the film were trying to accomplish. While some people like to view Christ's death on the cross as somewhat elegant and symbolic, the makers of this film portrayed it closer to what it actually was. Jesus, the Son of God, the only man to live without sin, suffered one of the most painful and horrific deaths imaginable. Not only that, He did it willingly! He did this to save us from an eternity in hell that we all deserve! He did it for the very ones who were crucifying Him! As I watched the movie, I couldn't help but realize that it wasn't the Roman soldiers or the pharisees torturing Jesus and nailing Him to the cross...it was me. Jesus went through all of that suffering for the world as a whole, but also for you and me as individuals. While I left the theater with a heavy heart, I was glad attended.
That movie helped make what Jesus did for me a little more real. As a follower of Christ in 2010, I am blessed because I know what Jesus has done for me by reading the bible. However, it has been 2,000 years since His death occurred. Being human, it can be easy for Christ's sacrifice to slip from my mind, or for it not to be as real as it would have been if I were there. I often pray that God would make what Jesus did for me on the cross more and more real in my life today. Just think how powerful it would have been to actually been there in person and seen His sacrifice. To hear His voice and feel the earth shake after He had died. Although it would have been traumatic, I know that I would have been deeply effected and moved by the event. I wonder if being at the cross in person would have allowed me to overcome some of my fears and shortcoming as a Christian today?
What I am going to try and do and what I encourage you to do is to reflect on the cross daily. We only have 1 Easter service a year and only take communion roughly once a month. These are the built in methods we have for remembering Christ's sacrifice. Not only do we need to remember Him on these occasions, we need to remember what He did for us every day! Starting your day off knowing that the Son of God died so that we would have eternal life with Him is a great way of putting things into a Godly perspective. If nothing else, thank God for what he did for us on the first Easter, and live your life as if you were there!
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