Living Like Easter People

What if Christians lived like everyday was Easter Sunday?

When I left church yesterday, which happened to be Easter Sunday, I was chatting with an elderly lady in our congregation. She’s 90 and quite spry. She rarely misses a Sunday. She commented on how she was so happy that the day turned out to be beautiful. I agreed with her and we talked a few more minutes before I gave her a hug and headed to my car.

I was thinking about our conversation on my drive home when I crossed the river. It was way up past flood stage and was moving very quickly. It rained Good Friday and on Saturday almost continuously. It was cold and dark, the way I picture the earth being, the day Jesus was crucified and the days He was in the tomb.

But, Easter Sunday turned out to be gorgeous as if Creation itself was celebrating along with Christians around the world.

Our pastor shared the concept and challenge to let Easter be the first day of the rest of our lives in Christ. I have to say that I never really thought about it that way.

I think of fresh starts on New Year’s Day and on my birthday, but Easter is a call to a spiritual fresh start, a clean slate that comes from the Resurrection. It’s a brand new call to accept grace and redemption and meets us at whatever point we find ourselves on our faith journey.

It doesn’t matter if we are brand new or seasoned Christ followers, or whether we have been traveling faithfully or have fallen away for some reason. Even if we find ourselves completely upside down and on the wrong road altogether, Easter is an invitation back to Jesus, back to forgiveness, back to healing, and back to unconditional love.

Easter is an invitation to all who choose to accept it. There are no exceptions.

When I scanned my Facebook feed it was full of “Happy Easter” and “He is Risen,” messages and each one was beautiful and encouraging to see, but on Monday, we tend to go back to business as usual. Those messages are a one day deal.

What if we tried to live like Easter people all year long? What if we chose to remember first thing each morning, the glory of the miracle that we are blessed to be included in? If we lived with that fresh joy and revelation everyday, it wouldn’t matter how badly our day went, because in the end, our thoughts and sights would be set on something much bigger than today’s troubles.

A Sunday sermon and a sunny day, reminded me to remember the promise of Easter everyday. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂