Have you ever noticed that people don’t seem to appreciate what they have until they don’t have it anymore? I’m counting myself in that generalization because it’s true.
I’m perfectly content to just rock along in life without really thinking about all the wonderful blessings God has given me, and then one day I wake up because everything that made my life easy is suddenly gone. And I didn’t even realize that those blessings were a gift instead of a privilege. It took losing them to appreciate them.
Why are we like that? Why do we have to lose things before we realize that we’re taking them for granted?
My cup of juice from the Seder Meal, Andover, KS
Today is Good Friday. Today is the day that Jesus died on the cross 2,000 years ago to pay the price for my soul and the soul of everyone who has ever lived and ever will live.
And I can’t help but put myself in the shoes of the Disciples. How crushed they had to be! How much they must have despaired! Not only because their friend was gone but so was their hope, even though Jesus had told them what was going to happen. (But we can’t be too hard on the Disciples because God tells us what’s going to happen and we don’t listen either.)
Normally I try to be positive and uplifting in what I post on here, but for once I really just want to take a moment and imagine what it would have been like if Christ hadn’t come back from the dead. What would have happened if He died on that cross and didn’t resurrect? What would have happened if Good Friday ended everything?
There was talk in the early Church about resurrection and whether or not it was true, and Paul addressed it in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19:
And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
If Christ stayed dead, our hope died with Him. His death on the cross paid the price for our sins, but His resurrection proved He was God enough to accept the charges.
If Christ stayed dead, we have no hope, we have no life, we have no purpose, because if He didn’t come back, the Bible is a lie. And the Disciples were liars. The Apostles were liars. And Jesus Himself was a liar.
If Christ stayed dead, what would your life look like? Have you ever taken the time to think about it? If you haven’t, do it. Think about all the times you faced difficulties and challenges and relied on His love or His strength to get you through, and then take that away. How would you have made it without Him?
Too often we take Him for granted. And it’s not that we shouldn’t expect Him to show up. He wants us to expect Him. But there’s a big difference between expecting Him to be there and thinking we deserve His presence in our lives.
Today, think about what your life would be like without Christ, and when Sunday gets here, you’ll see it differently. It won’t just be another Sunday. It won’t just be another Easter where you get to dress up and hunt for eggs or eat ham with your family. It will be a true celebration of the return of hope because that’s what Easter is. Easter celebrates the hope and life we have in Christ because He didn’t stay dead.
Always Peachy 