What we think about Easter determines the course of our lives.
All holidays are meant to be reminders of significant people or events in history. But Easter stands alone in it's potential to personally impact a life.
The story of the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ would certainly be an interesting tale, full of mystery, suspense, wonder, miracles, crime, love, hate, greed, etc. But if that were the end, that's all it would be - just an interesting tale. I'm sure there would still be a good number of followers, many books written about the selfless martyr, rules to live by based on his teaching, speeches given in his honor to commemorate him, and lots of streets and buildings named after him. But that's all. He would be an idea, a philosophy, a set of teachings that man would attempt to make into a means by which one can become righteous, making him good enough to be accepted into the next life.
But Jesus did more than be born, live, and die. He was resurrected! And His resurrection validated everything He taught while here on the earth, placing it in a class by itself, in the place of TRUTH. There is no other religious leader, good man, or prophet who can lay claim to being the embodiment of Truth. Jesus alone is the Truth. "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me." ( John 14:6 New International Version) The Bible is God's gift to us to explain His plan from the beginning of time as to how we may become righteous in His eyes, and the main character is His Son, Jesus Christ.
The one who truly believes this, that a Man has been sent from God to tell us about what lies beyond the grave and how to live in such a way as to experience a relationship with God, will make all his decisions with that truth in mind. He will be like Ezra. "For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel." (Ezra 7:10 New American Standard) The man who believes in the resurrection will think about what God will say to him regarding how he raised his children, how he ran his business, how he treated his neighbor. It will be his goal to emulate the character of Jesus His Lord; to love his enemies, to forgive, to treat others as he himself wants to be treated. When he fails, he will go right to God in prayer, ask for help, and go at it again. All the while he will grow closer and closer to his heavenly Father, taking on more and more of the character of His Savior until that final day when he will be told, "... Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world." (Matthew 25:34 New International Version) The one who believes in Easter with his whole heart has made it his life's goal to know God and please Him above all.
Easter is not a one-day-a-year holiday to him, it is an every day conscience choice to love the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, all his mind, all his strength and to love his neighbor as himself. It will direct the course of his life.
Easter is a good time to ask yourself if you have ever read through the entire Bible. If it is Truth, then shouldn't we want to know what is in it? And if it is Truth in the form of a person that we can know, shouldn't it speak to us? Many people write off the Bible as outdated stories, irrelevant reading, a crutch for life, old fashioned thoughts that have little meaning for today, but they have never read it for themselves to see. It is a book that stands alone because it it is a living book. "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12 New International Version) Don't let the message of Easter pass you by another year. See for yourself if there really is Truth to follow in this world and Truth to set the course of your life by.
