What’s it all about?

People around the world are commemorating what for many, is the most important period of time in history – the Easter season. Some have given up something for Lent and look forward to having that special something back once the season is past. Many are buying candy and items to fill Easter baskets, dying eggs and organizing egg hunts, shopping for new clothes, and making reservations for that special Easter meal. Others anticipate visits from extended family and friends, and time off of work and school!

Pastors and worship leaders prepare for multiple services and greater than usual number of attendees, as some people return for their first visit since Christmas. And somewhere in the hustle and bustle of it all, just like at Christmas, we pause to remember what it’s all about.

What it’s NOT about is the eggs, and candy, and baskets, and new clothes, and special meals, and holidays. It’s not even about temporarily doing without something for a short period of time. There is nothing wrong with all of that. It is part of the joy of celebrating.

BUT

What it IS about is the greatest gift ever given to mankind, and the ONE who gave it. It’s about making a way for us to be in relationship with our Creator, about having our sins forgiven, and being adopted into the family of God. It’s about conquering death and giving life to those who will believe and receive Him.

The Apostle Paul spells it out in two short verses in 1 Corinthians 15: 3-4. “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Paul said it was of first importance. Nothing is more important than this! He said Christ died for a reason – for our sins. He died and was buried. He was confirmed to be dead. He was put in a tomb. But He did not stay dead! On the third day He rose again. And that, friends, that is what it’s all about. It’s about Jesus taking our place, dying for our sins, rising from the grave, offering to us the free gift of eternal life … LIFE.

It’s appropriate that we celebrate at this time of year, when trees are budding, and flowers are pushing up through the earth. Signs of life are all around us, reminding us that although there was the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, LIFE follows death, and we can have life if we follow Him.

Have you received the gift He is offering you? A gift is not yours until you receive it. Receive it and thank Him today for so great a salvation.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Romans 10:9-10 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.” In verse 13 he writes, “Whosoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

May this be your happiest Easter ever!

Blessings,

Ruth

Free Offer

Rarely is a “free” offer totally free. You go online to order the “free” item and are hit with an exorbitant shipping fee. You go into the restaurant for the “free” food offer and discover the “with purchase” clause you’d failed to notice in the advertisement. In exchange for a tax increase you get some “free” service. You respond to a “buy one get one free” ad and end up with two items which you probably didn’t even want if one wasn’t “free.” You may drive miles out of your way to get a “free” item and spend more money on fuel than you would have spent to buy the item closer to home.

Free is not really free.

When we see the motto, “Freedom isn’t free,” we understand it to mean that men and women down through history paid the price for our country’s freedoms, often at the cost of their lives on the battlefield. Free costs someone something. The big question is, who is paying?

A gift, although free to the recipient, is not free. When you give a birthday or graduation gift to a loved one you don’t demand payment for it, otherwise it would not be a gift! But unless you stole it, or made it yourself, you paid the store clerk for it at purchase.

Scripture says that salvation is a gift (Ephesians 2:8, Romans 6:23). We don’t pay for it. We can’t earn it, work for it, or do anything to up our chances of receiving it. It is offered freely to us. But someone paid. And that someone was the Lord Jesus Christ. He paid the ultimate price, bearing our sins upon Himself on the cross so that we would not have to. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!” (Romans 5:8-9)

Elvina M. Hall expressed it with these words in 1865:

“Jesus paid it all.

All to Him I owe.

Sin had left a crimson stain.

He washed it white as snow.”

Our part is to believe and receive. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” (John 1:12)

The next time we see an ad for something free, let’s remember that somebody had to pay. Thank God for the price He paid so that we could be forgiven. May our hearts swell with gratitude and our lips give Him praise as we consider such great love.

Blessings,

Ruth