Easter is a holiday that so many of us celebrate. We have the Easter bunny (if your family chooses to go the Easter Bunny route as mine did), we have egg hunts, and cute little outfits, family get togethers, and so much more. For Christians we know that this holiday is about so much more than all of that. It is so fun to wake up and have a basket full of goodies ready Easter morning but we also know that this holiday is celebrated in remembrance of Jesus Christ rising from the grave.
A verse that has really been on my mind is John 3:16. Its a verse that I have heard and said a million times. It has become something that we just memorized as kids and when someone wants us to recite a verse we say that one. The little tiny kids know it and those that aren't even believers know it. Just because, I'm going to share it again.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16 (NIV)
Most of you know that a month ago we lost my two sisters. We have lost children before but this one was the hardest. We had spent four years with them and we were sure that they were ours forever. We had to tell them that they were leaving, we had to watch them cry, and we had to force them to get into a car with another family because we know that God has a plan for them. It didn't make it any less painful. We knew that in the end God would take care of them but the pain is real and the pain doesn't stop.
Any of you who have ever lost a child in any way, know the pain that comes with it. They had so much more of their lives to be with you. Its heartbreaking. You desire to love on them and protect them and hold them. Sometimes when I think about it, I feel like my heart is being torn out of my chest. I KNOW that God has this in His hands but it really doesn't change the sorrow right now. In anger sometimes I would think, how can God take someone's child? Doesn't He know how painful this is? He just doesn't understand how horrible this is? All of those are valid feelings and though I honestly know the answer sometimes your heart and your head don't match up.
God does know the pain though, that's the thing. Yesterday was Maundy Thursday. The night that many, many years ago Jesus sat down at a table and ate His final supper. He knew that night that one of His men had betrayed Him. Today He would be dragged around, tortured and finally hung on a cross to die a slow and very painful death. We know that He would be raised from the dead but that doesn't make what happened to Him any less understandable. He was someone's child. Mary carried Him and gave birth to Him. She loved Him and she cared for Him for 33 years. It was HER child that was humiliated. It was HER child that was tortured, she watched Him bleed from all the wounds and she watched them nail His hands and feet to, two wooden boards. Then she watched Him bleed out and die. Her child was murdered in front of her.
God gave us HIS ONLY son. He knew that we are sinners and that we needed to be saved. Most parents would DIE for their children. I would die to save my baby sisters. Our lives were all on the line, our lives and those before us, and the lives of those that we will leave behind some day. God wanted to save us because we are adopted into His family as His children. However, in order to save us He had to sacrifice His son. I know, that He knew His son would be raised from the dead but Jesus was His CHILD. He had to watch His son go through pain, He had to hear His son cry out for Him one last time. He watched them beat Jesus until He could barely walk.
Any of you who have children or who love a child know how hard it is to watch them in pain. I am not a mother but I am a big sister. I know how much it hurt to watch them hurt and someday I will now what it feels like to watch my child go though life but I know that its hard. You never want your child to feel pain of any kind. God had the power to stop it but if He had, we wouldn't be here. He made the ultimate sacrifice to save us. If that doesn't give you a reason to live and a reason to love Him, I don't know what will. He literally GAVE us His son to save US. We are saved because He let His child be tortured and die.
The amazing news is this, we are SAVED by GRACE. We have been saved through the love of Jesus Christ. He rose again and we have been blessed. So this Easter, look a little deeper and see just how special this Holy day is. God Bless and have a Happy Resurrection Day!
