Easter

Easter is my favorite holiday. The gravity of the gospel weighs so much heavier over these couple of days. Jesus’ love feels so much more appreciated and acknowledged. We remember what He did for us and the pain He endured. We remember that He died so that we might live.

One Man changed everything. He gave Himself freely so we could live eternally with Him. I have to say that again because if I’m not careful, I rattle it off without truly considering the sacrifice that means. He DIED so that I could LIVE eternity with Him. He loves me that much.

His love amazes me. It amazes me and makes me reflect on the world around me, my life, and how I live it. It is so easy to fall into the lies of the world and lose sight of the true purpose of this life. Jesus.

When I really consider the sacrifice and love that He freely gives despite the fact that I don’t deserve it and I could never earn it, I am humbled. I am humbled and I am inspired to live life with a bolder love. His sacrifice and His love puts everything into perspective and makes me feel silly for not telling every single soul I come across the meaning of Easter.

Jesus died on the cross to save us, to know us, and to show us His love. He showed us that He wanted more for us than what we’re willing to settle for ourselves. He wants more for you. He wants you to live life to the fullest, but not in our earthly definition of it.

Living life to the fullest isn’t what we’ve been trained to believe it is. It’s not chasing your next high or sleeping around or drinking to be the life of the party or trying to make the highest salary or having the nicest things or living in the nicest neighborhood. These things will never satisfy, they will ALWAYS leave you wanting more.

Living life to the fullest means living life for Him. It means dying to your fleshly desires, it means consciously deciding to follow Jesus with your time, with your words, and with your actions. I’ve had so many conversations with people who view God as a tyrant King who is power hungry. He’s not a tyrant king, He is a loving King. A King who knows exactly how each one of our stories ends, He sees the consequences to the choices we get to make, and He sees the bigger picture that we can’t. He’s a King that gave us free will so we could decide to follow Him or not. He’s a king who wants us to live our life fulfilled. He’s a Father who wants His children to love and be loved. He doesn’t promise us life will be easy, but He does promise us we will never have to go it alone.

“Who is He to tell me what I can and cannot do?” This question gets me every time. He didn’t give us a “book of rules” to keep us from having the earthly definition of “fun”, but He gave us guidelines because He is our Father and He truly knows best. He created everything with a purpose and He’s set boundaries because He knows the purpose. He knows what will bring us pain and sorrow. He knows what will leave us empty and what will keep us searching for anything and everything just to give us a temporary fix. He knows that nothing will ever fill us or complete us, except for Him. He’s given us guidelines because He loves us enough to protect us.

He doesn’t just deserve us two holidays a year. He deserves our every day, every hour, every minute, every breath, every word, and every action. He is the creator of the universe, yes, but He is the creator of YOU. He made you. He made you exactly who you are and He accepts you exactly where you are. 

I get lazy and I get distracted. But my God is always there. I have to make the conscious daily decision to live my life for Him. To live my every day, every hour, every minute, every breath, and every word for Him. I get to have a personal relationship with the One who gave His life for me and there is nothing more real to me.

Sometimes I am selfish and sometimes I hoard my life and sometimes I fail Him, but all the time He loves me. All the time He forgives me. He loves me. And man, does He loves you. And not just with a small lazy “ily” kind of way, but He loves you with a big, bold, deep, unwavering, unconditional, limitless, patient kind of love. The kind of love that you could turn your back on Him every day and He will never stop knocking. He loves you with a strong and honest love that no matter what you do, how many times you do it, you are never too far gone. He loves you so much that He died for you.

He is Risen; He is risen, indeed.

Happy happy Resurrection, everyone!