Happy Easter! He is risen! He is risen indeed!
We serve a living God! Have you ever really thought about how great that is? Our Lord was crucified and buried, but then was raised on the third day! Our God is alive and working out His plans every day. He invites us to be a part of His work. How exciting is it that a great and all-powerful God invites us to be a part of His master plan?
I pray that you had the opportunity to spend time with your risen Lord in prayer and worship yesterday. I also pray that you had the opportunity to spend time with your families. I have so many wonderful Easter memories and yesterday was another one that I will always remember. Yesterday was so special because of all of the travel that so many people did to be a part of the Easter holiday. We had people congregate at my younger brother’s house this year and my wonderful step-mother provided the food–and it was a serious feast!! This year was amazing in that we had family in from Mahomet, Arizona, Texas, Iowa, and since Laura and I were on vacation this last week, we drove in from Florida. Think about all the travel that people did to spend time with one another.
Why would people travel so far to be together–other than the wonderful food and the fun of being with family?Because Jesus lives! He is alive today and that is what separates Christianity from all other religions. Our God is alive and working today! That is why we celebrate Easter. That is why it is such a joyous holiday.
What will you remember about Easter 2013? I pray that your Easter was a joyous memory-filled day!
More to come…
Jeremy
Awaken Ministries 
Thanks for showing faith in action
Jeremy,
After spending 5 hours with choir responsibilities on Easter Sunday, getting a perspective from someone on the other side is always an eye-opener. Thanks for your comments. I always get a lot from your insight.
Easter has always been special – I remember the breakfasts at Grandma Durbins after church. We were all dressed up, we had a great meal, and usually Connie and Dave were down from Iowa so we had a chance to see them. Then we would go to Grandma Garretts in the afternoon and do it all over, though we knew enough to stay out of the pond.
Sadly, however, I get home at 10:30 and am dead tired but I have 9 e-mails waiting for me from work – including two that were important I read. Why on Earth am I checking messages? And why are folks sending them to me? And driving across the Illinois River, I bet every East Peoria restaurant in that complex by Wal-Mart was open for business and packed. As a traveler, I appreciate the gas stations being open. But why are other places open and what does that say about our values as a country?
But I want to end positive because Easter is joyous and has always been my second favorite holiday behind Christmas. And today is my favorite secular holiday – Opening Day!