“How to Make Easter Real in Your Life Every Day”

Easter is my favorite season.  I love Christmas as the “beginning” and I love Easter as the “completion.”

How does Easter affect my thoughts, my relationships, and my choices…EVERY DAY?

Easter is not sentimental.  It is not 42 children riding on a flatbed trailer through town wearing Easter bunny ears.

It is not “cute.”  It is not “chocolate.”  It is Christ and a cross.

It is also a crown.

Here is how Easter affects me every single day of the year:

1.     I have a new life.

• Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ.” Christ took my sins. He shouldered my cross. He wore my crown. He received my nails. He died my death. I thank Him daily for the awful price He paid.
  

• Every day, I am alive. Paul also said, “I am risen with Christ.” Sin is my past. Sin was dealt with and defeated. I have a new identity, a new ID card, a fresh, clean life with no guilt, shame, or condemnation. I am alive!

2.     I can forgive. 

• Christ forgave. He forgave the soldiers who mocked Him. He forgave the Pharisees who falsely accused Him. He gave His blood to forgive the entire world, all at one time.
  

• Every day, I can forgive. I’m a new person. I return love for hate, peace for anger, beauty for violence. It’s all because He changed my nature from human to holy.

3.     I can serve. 

• Before His death, Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. He demonstrated taking the low place. He showed even Judas that His love was beyond boundaries.
  

• Every day, I can serve. I can park cars. I can hold doors, empty trash, and teach Sunday school. I can forgive even the “Judas” in my life. If the Master did it, surely I can.

4.     I can obey. 

• In the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ stood at the crossroads: “His way or God’s way.” He made the right choice: “Not my will, but yours be done.”
  

• Every day, I can surrender my will to God. He’s got a purpose, a job, a calling for me. I have to say, “Yes” to His will and “No” to earthly distractions.

5.     I can win. 

• It looked like He lost, but He won! He stripped the devil of his power. He ripped open the grave and stood ALIVE in mighty power.
  

• Every day, I can win also. My circumstances, obstacles, and barriers cannot stop me. I may be knocked down, but I’m not knocked out! Like Peter’s shadow, resurrection power flows through my being.

That’s what Easter is!  It’s not a stale, put on your best clothes hat-fest.  It is a celebration of dead people who have come alive in Christ.

Forgive.  Serve. Obey. Win.

It’s your new daily Easter.