Pastor's Pondering

 

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Colored Easter Eggs

by Pastor Duane Mabee on March 8, 2018
Last night, I heard a radio show host ranting about the things she is not going to do this year for Easter.  “Ranting” might be slightly too strong, but not much.  It’s the best word I can think of for her monolog.  Her biggest issue was that she did not want to dye hard-boiled eggs again this year.  It creates far too big of a mess. 

I can’t say that I really want to dye Easter eggs, either, but her speech left me wondering if that’s really the most important thing she had to talk about at this time of year.  The greatest event in human history took place when Jesus died on a cross to clean up the mess of our sins and then rose again to show us that we can be truly forgiven.  The mess of Easter egg dye hardly compares. 

It also left me wondering what we are doing to prepare for Easter.  Easter eggs, new clothes, baskets filled with candy and gifts, a perfectly glazed ham with all the sides are all fine.  I look forward to most of them.  But, what are we doing to prepare our hearts?  What are we doing to prepare to celebrate the most amazing act of love ever committed? 

God loves you so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to pay for all of the things you have ever done wrong and ever will do wrong.  He wanted to establish a relationship with you, so He did everything necessary to remove the barriers between Him and you.  All you need to do is surrender to Him and rely on what Jesus did for you.  That’s love. 

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.  God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. …He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins, (Eph. 1:4-5, & 7 NLT).

Here’s what I would suggest we do to prepare for Easter.  The more familiar we are with what Jesus did for us and how much He loves us, the better we can celebrate what Easter is all about.  Spend some time between now and Easter Sunday reading the gospel accounts of the crucifixion and resurrection.  You can find them in Matthew 26 through 28, Mark 14 through 16, Luke 19:28 through 24, and John 12 through 21.  If you don’t have a Bible, I would be happy to give you one.  Just come see me. 

Reading about God’s tremendous love for you, displayed through the cross and the resurrection, is the best thing you can do to prepare for celebrating Easter. 
 
Oh, and dye the eggs if you want to.  It doesn’t matter. 
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