Easter

For those of you who live where I live, you'll remember that it snowed on Friday, and even a little bit yesterday (well, it did in my neck of the woods). When I woke up on Friday morning to snow, it really put me down. I was thinking, "Come on!! SNOW? In APRIL??" Later in the day though, a thought crossed my mind. This was Good Friday. The day (by tradition) that Jesus was crucified. The snow began to make sense to me. The day Jesus was crucified, many people thought all hope was lost. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, the disciples, and many others were deeply broken by His death. The days following were days of darkness for these people. The snow seemed to reflect the sorrow that was felt by these men and women so many years ago.

But what we know and what they forgot was that Jesus wasn't going to stay dead forever. Three days later, when Mary Magdalene came to dress Jesus' body with spices, she found the door to the tomb empty, with nothing inside but the grave clothes he had been wrapped in. Sure that the Roman soldiers had taken Jesus' body away, Mary began to weep. But she soon discovered that Jesus was not dead--but alive!!! Can you imagine the joy she must've felt when she looked once again upon the face of her Savior? Just three days ago, she thought she would never see Him again, yet there He was, alive and standing before her. He had conquered death, hell, and the grave so that she could be free. So that all people could be free. He suffered and died to pay for our sins, and then arose again three days later; all for us! We are all horrible sinners and deserve nothing more than an eternity in hell. But Jesus loved us so much that He has given us an opportunity to spend eternity with Him in Heaven!!!

So when this Easter morning dawned bright and beautiful, I felt in my heart the same hope Mary Magdalene must've felt when she saw her Savior was alive. Memories came flooding back from 4 and a half years ago when I finally chose to believe and accept Christ's eternal gift. That was by far the best day of my life. If you have not accepted Christ's perfect gift, I encourage and compel you to do so! It will be the best choice you ever made!!!!