Easter

This past Easter was a very different experience for me. It is hard for me to describe what the Lord is doing in my life right now. The closest I can come to explaining it is the Lord has been bringing me back to the honeymoon stage of our relationship.

When I first accepted Christ in 2001 I remember being utterly love-struck and just overwhelmed by his goodness. I am there right now. So for this reason I was very excited to go to church Easter morning to celebrate what God has done for me.

To give background, I have been living in the South for about 13 years where Easter is a big deal, rightly so as it is the foundation and reason Christianity exists. Churches commonly have extra services in order to serve all of the people who come out for that day. Each service is normally PACKED!

Even though I know I'm definitely not in the South, it is through certain experiences that this statement is underlined, bolded and italiticised. Easter morning was one of them.

First, I left my house kind of late (a common habit of mine- I have a hard time being early for events. I usually arrive right when it starts or 5-10 minutes later.) That morning I said to myself, "Crap!" I'll probably have a hard time finding parking and who knows about a seat! As I drove into the church parking lot, I was in shock.

There were several parking spots open. I had no problem finding one. As I parked and walked into the church, I was shocked even more. I had arrived 5 minutes late, but there was only a handful of people there. My initial excitement of going to church to celebrate what God has done for me was overwhelmed by saddness. For the first 15 minutes I had to hold back tears.

The thing is that Easter truly is the reason why we are able to have a relationship with God. It is through Christ's death that we are able to have full access to the Father.

If you were see me on the outside, some might say... "She is a good person." Truth is I am full of sin. Sin is not just actions on the outside, but sin comes from our heart. This means our thoughts, intentions, natural inclinations can be sinful. I am fully aware that no good that I ever do would make me right in God's eyes. We all are in need of a Savior.

That Easter morning as my heart was full of saddness, I understood that God's heart is even more grieved. His gift of salvation is for all. However, many do not understand why that gift is necessary or even the value it. How will they know if no one is there to explain it to them?

It's time as Christians we let go of appearances. As Christians, we still sin. We are not perfect, YET. Christ is our righteouness. One day we will be made perfect with Christ, but that is not in this life. We are on a journey. People are longing for authenticity, realness, not a rules to follow.

Thank God! Thank you Lord that it is not about rules but rather it is about knowing you!!