Sunday, April 4, 2010

The Continuing Story

As I ponder the beauty of this morning, so many things are flooding through my mind.  The joy!  The power!  The love!  Oh, He is risen!  Reading Romans with the beauty of Easter fresh on my heart is powerful indeed. 

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

How can my heart not just explode at the very thought of it?!

What has also been on my mind, though, is the disciples.  They spent the whole weekend in the most confusing, horrific, grief-filled, challenging upheaval imaginable.  No, it was beyond imagination.  No wonder they had trouble wrapping their minds around the fulfillment of what Jesus had been telling them!  No wonder they had a hard time accepting Jesus standing before them!

The thing that tugs at my heart with the greatest power is the continuation of the story.  In Luke 24:47-49 we see a tiny glimpse of what Jesus said and taught in His last days on earth.  Essentially, He told them that because of His suffering the world would have forgiveness.  But, there’s more!  Because of their presence through it all – because they suffered through it, too – they would be the vessels by which the news of that forgiveness would begin to spread through all the earth.

The very foundation of their lives changed.  Jesus’ resurrection took them far beyond the lives they had lived before.  These men and women are truly the picture of the old man passing away and the new man coming.

In the words of a Veggie Tales character, “The Hope of Easter changes everything!”  Thanks to that Hope, I was forgiven about this time of year 24 years ago, but the transformation and growth in my life can’t stop there.  I am still not what I need to be to help spread the story of forgiveness to the ends of the earth.  How challenged I am to surrender everything I am in order to be His vessel.  To cling to nothing but the resurrected Lord.  To continue the work of the disciples to proclaim these things to all mankind. 

He is risen!  He is risen indeed!  May the world hear that truth through me!

No comments: