Easter is here again and it means different things to each person. At times it has been fun hunting eggs and baskets of candy hidden intended to be found and enjoyed. I have enjoyed Easter bunnies and lambs and ham for dinner as well as new outfits and special shoes for church and family Easter celebration.
Over 40 years ago Easter came to mean something more to me. Sitting in my pew I saw the sun streaming in the window. It was if it were the first Resurrection Sunday ever. We sang:
“On a hill far away, stood an old rugged Cross
The emblem of suffering and shame
And I love that old Cross where the Dearest and Best
For a world of lost sinners was slain”
And I love that old Cross where the Dearest and Best
For a world of lost sinners was slain”
I was a broken person, a sinner, in need – in need of a Savior. As I bowed my knees to give my heart and life to the God I love and would love forever, the Cross became more to me than I could ever imagine. They crucified Jesus thinking it was over and it was not. His death turned to life and His great reversal became my great reversal. It changed:
Death to life
Defeat to victory
Hate to love
Anxiety to peace
Loss to gain
Pain to healing
Sadness to happiness
Depression to release
Guilt to forgiveness
Bondage to freedom
Addiction to deliverance
The Cross is everything to me. It is the symbol of where Jesus died and rose again so I could know Him and His love. He became my Father, my Friend, my Provider, Protector, Way Maker, Author and Finisher of my faith, the One Who sees me and knows all about me, Everything. I am not ashamed of the Cross and Gospel of Jesus Christ because it is the Power of God to salvation- to all answered prayers, deliverance, faith, enlightenment, forgiveness, overcoming, life, going to heaven for eternity- everything.
The words came to life to me that Resurrection Sunday so many years ago as we continued to sing:
“So I’ll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown”
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown”
I reflect on the Words in the Bible – if anyone else is god- serve them, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Living God- the Lord – the Resurrected One this Easter.
Share what Easter means to you.