Easter
“The
angel answered and said to the women, ‘Do not be
afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was
crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He
said. Come see the place where the Lord lay. And go
quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from
the dead” (Matthew 28:5-7)
Church attendance is always
“up” at Christmas and Easter. Parking is more
difficult, “your” special place in the pew where you
always sit may be taken by someone else, and you are
surrounded by people who look vaguely familiar, but
you merely nod to them because you suspect they
won’t be back for a long time. This year, pray for
them and smile at the one who is in your seat.
Remember that the father in the “Prodigal
Son” parable (Luke 15:11-32) had TWO sons and
BOTH of them needed the Lord.
Speaking of “Christmas and
Easter” church attendees, we’ve had a “Humor”
section for some years at the First Church on the
Net. Do you remember the “old” hymns of a
generation ago? The following is a sampling from a
“Humor” item sent to us in 2001:
If
hymns were written by “Christmas and Easter
Christians,” these would be some of the titles of
those hymns –
- I
Surrender Some
-
There Shall Be Sprinkles of Blessings
- Fill
My Thimble, Lord
- Oh,
How I Like Jesus
- I
Love to Talk About Telling the Story
- Take
My Life, but Let Me Be
- It
is My Secret What God Can Do
-
Where He Leads Me, I Will Consider Following
- When
the Saints Go Sneaking In
- Sit
Up, Sit Up for Jesus
- Oh,
for a Couple of Tongues to Sing
-
Amazing Grace, How Interesting the Sound
- Go
Tell it on the Speed Bump
- My
Hope is Built on Nothing Much
- O,
God, Our Enabler in Ages Past
-
Pillow of Ages, Fluffed for Me
- All
Hail the Influence of Jesus' Name!
- I'm
Fairly Certain that My Redeemer Lives
- What
an Acquaintance We Have in Jesus
-
Joyful, Joyful, We Think Thee Pretty Good
-
Above Average is Thy Faithfulness
- We
Are Milling Around in the Light of God
-
Spirit of the Living God, Fall Somewhere Near Me
-
Blest Be the Tie That
Doesn't Cramp My Style!
There were a few more and you
can go back to “Humor” and look for the rest if you
want. But it is even better for us all to go back
to the Bible at this time and read the accounts of
Jesus’ resurrection. We need to KNOW that Jesus
Christ WAS fully dead and yet He RETURNED from the
dead fully ALIVE – forevermore! Your life will
never be the same, for the Holy Spirit will convince
your heart that what was done for Jesus Christ
(returning Him to life) will be done for YOU when
you place your faith in Him. You and I will be
raised to life and will live forever – in Him.
“I
Surrender Some” becomes “I
Surrender ALL” and “I'm
Fairly Certain that My Redeemer Lives” turns
into: “I KNOW that My
Redeemer Lives!” when you BELIEVE in the
Lord.
The women in today’s Scripture
who went to the rich man’s tomb that Jesus was
buried in, did NOT expect to find Him alive. But He
was and they did. When they ran back to tell Jesus’
key disciples, the apostles, the shocking news that
Jesus was raised from the dead, those men weren’t
prepared to believe it either! Even though Jesus
told them, over-and-over again that He would die for
our sins and return from the dead, they didn’t truly
believe until they SAW it was true! It’s the same
for us. That’s why the Bible contains eye-witness
accounts of those who SAW the Risen Christ. You and
I are like “judges” who decide whether to believe
the testimony or not. – We want to KNOW and to judge
rightly!
The judge in a courtroom has an
advantage. He not only hears the testimony and sees
the evidence, but he also has books that tell him
how to rule in certain situations. He has attorneys
in front of him, pointing him to certain sections of
those books. As stated, we have the Bible, the
literal, authoritative and very real Word of God,
but we have even more. We have been given the Holy
Spirit of God. You can KNOW in and through Him,
that Christ IS risen from the dead and you are given
HIS life, when you trust in the Lord.
Growing on the east side of our
property in Long Beach, California, is the most
interesting hedge that obscures the fence between
our home and the one next door. In the spring, that
hedge (actually a combination of differing hedge
plants) is GREEN with life, and it also contains
beautiful orange-red flowers that are startling in
beauty against the green of that hedge.
Hummingbirds vie for the nectar, as do bees and
other creatures. Yet in the wintertime, you’ve
never seen anything as dead-appearing in your life
as that hedge! It looks like a bunch of
sun-whitened sticks somewhere in the desert! If I
didn’t KNOW it would return to life in the spring, I
might have it chopped down to make room for
something else, convinced it’s gone for good. But
it’s not. I BELIEVE that hedge is ALIVE and will
soon be green again, lovely flowers and all –
Actually, I KNOW it soon will be!
In a similar manner, our Lord
is not gone, He is ALIVE, and the testimony of the
written Word of God and God’s Holy Spirit is
sufficient to reveal that Jesus is right here with
us. He is ALIVE - and He will discernibly live in
your heart when you place your trust in Him. “I
Surrender Some” becomes “I
Surrender All” – to Him. Let’s trust in Him
now:
Lord, thank You for Your Book,
the Bible, and for giving us Your Holy Spirit, that
we might KNOW that the Messiah, Jesus Christ is
alive and ours for the asking right now. Lord, I
believe in You! Thank You, Lord, for saving me. In
Jesus Name. Amen.
