Easter.

Even as a Christian, the first thing that comes into my head when I think Easter is little yellow and pink and green plastic eggs, candy, chocolate bunnies, and hideous white floofy dresses with wide-brimmed hats, the kind mom used to make me wear on that blessed Sunday each year.  (Ugh, I was such a tomboy and hated dresses…I think one year I convinced Mom to let me where something different and I ended up in some kind of white capri ugly pants with an orange striped shirt…? REALLY MOM?! Oh well. Water under the bridge).

Anyways,  but honestly. I really do think of all the commercial stuff and don’t always take the time to let the implications of Jesus sink in. This week, I’ve been so blessed to have the pastor of our church lead devotionals literally a stone’s throw from my office. We’ve been meeting before work at 6:45 a.m. at the YMCA (Ok, so maybe I was 20 minutes late on Tuesday…and 15 minutes late yesterday…but I was SO on it today. Only 3 minutes late). We’ve watched a couple of John Piper videos (author of Don’t Waste Your Life), we’ve prayed some, shared some, read some scripture, and sang worship songs. I have been impacted by numerous topics of discussion but today hit the nail on the head regarding some recent struggles of mine.

We read/prayed/sang through Hebrews 10, a chapter about Christ’s sacrifice for all. This is sometimes such a vague concept, Christian jargon that gets tossed about as if it was a simple fact to be memorized. But if I sit and think about how this plan has affected me, here in this century, I am totally humbled. The amount of the Scriptures and the amount of JESUS I let blow right by me on a daily basis is staggering. One Scripture we read was this:

“I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds. Their sins and lawless acts I will remember now more.”

What if that was it for me? What if all the stresses of life paled in comparison to the fact that God is making me into something new…is breathing new life into me? Why do I keep worrying, trying to measure up, and making sacrifices much like the Hebrews did, when one sacrifice was made, once and for all? I’m spinning my wheels, wasting my time, when I do that! It seems here in the Scripture, God is telling them/us, Why are you still living like you have so much to deal with? Now is the time to come alive. The cross is everything.

At the end of our time, we wrote on little notecards what we needed freedom from. I made a list. And this was the first time I realized that the very things I fear losing or missing out on are the very things Jesus has given me already. Joy. A purpose. Love. Valuable things to do with my time and energy. Confidence. Assurance. Safety. Fulfillment. In anything I put my hands to.

One more thought from this morning:

“What would it look like to take this confidence with us every day? To live out of a place of encouragement and stop beating ourselves up and waiting for God to start new life in us? He already has.”

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. -hebrews 10:23