Easter Thoughts
Easter Thoughts
God created me to be a positive thinker. As a matter of fact, when I took the Gallup Strengths Finder Test, positivity is a strength of mine and so is Woo which combined you will either think I am upbeat and positive or you might find me annoyingly chipper. In any case, I for some reason am wired to see the glass half full, not half empty.
When I think about Holy week and Easter I always think about the “ He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed” part. I don’t always ponder the triumphant entry which in a few short days led to a brutal death on the cross. The heaviness of the last supper, Jesus knowing indeed it was the last time he would partake in a meal with his beloved disciples. The betrayal and the long walk to Calvary. My focus tends to be on the rolled away stone and Jesus in heaven.
That was until a few days ago when I was challenged by one of my co-workers at our staff meeting. Pastor Jaimie led our devotion time and asked us to think about the “ Good Friday Moments” in our lives and then the “ Easter Moments” and talk about them, pray about them, and thank God for both. I struggled at first knowing anything I suffer with in this life is nothing compared to the sacrifice of Christ, yet I have suffered and still have moments or issues that I struggle with. We shared our stories with our co-workers and of course we each have “ Good Friday Moments” we are dealing with. It was a beautiful time of sharing and prayer which left me thinking without the hope of the risen Lord, I would not be able to make it through those tough times. Knowing that Jesus lived an earthly life makes me feel that He is aware of my earthly struggles. I left our meeting feeling grateful for my Christian faith.
I have pondered all of this a lot this week and even more so as I head off to a Good Friday service at my church today. This year I am embracing the whole story of Easter – the difficult and the beautiful. I am so appreciative of the suffering Jesus did on my behalf and the rekindled awareness I have of this during this Holy Week. Life is full of both the difficult and the amazing and a lot of the time it is only in the suffering that we can fully appreciate all that is good. Thank you Pastor Jaimie for the reminder.
He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!!
Mark 16: 1-7
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “ Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side and they were alarmed. “ Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell tell his disciples and Peter, He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him , just as he told you.”