It's Here!

It's here, it's here! My favorite day of the year! The day that Jesus saved us humans from ourselves. The day my Lord rose up from the grave so we no longer had to be slaves to sin.

For some reason it always surprises people when I say that this is my favorite holiday--not Christmas, not Thanksgiving, not even my birthday (I know, it's not really a holiday :) ). But why wouldn't it be my favorite?! This Holy Week is the time of the year that reminds me that Jesus died in my place so that I may be saved! What could possibly be better than that?! No Christmas package, no turkey dinner, no birthday present could ever compare to that gift.

"For God so loved the world he gave his one and only SON, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:16-18) I have always struggled with these verses, but more so this year than ever before. I have my own son now. Would I be able to give up my son for someone else to live? Especially for people who don't deserve it? Because we don't, we don't deserve it. We are ALL sinners who fall short. "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:6-8)

Before we ever knew we needed God's love or forgiveness or salvation, He knew, and He provided the way. Not because we deserved it, not because of anything we had done, but because He loved us. And that is the thing that blows me away, because there is nothing we could ever do on our own to deserve that gift. No good works, no amount of money, can buy our salvation.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

"He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing and rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior..." (Titus 2:5-6)

I don't know about anyone else, but it doesn't get any more cut and dry than that to me. There is nothing I can ever do to buy his salvation, because it is not for sale. Fortunately, it is freely given to anyone who chooses to receive it. It's for the taking, all you have to do is simply ask and receive. How great is that?! We could never do anything good enough to buy that gift, yet He still wants us to have it so it's FREE!

Someone once told me that when we accept this gift of salvation and Jesus enters our hearts, God sees us differently, as though he's seeing us through a "Jesus Filter." Basically, when God looks at us from that point on, He sees Jesus standing in front of us, and rather than seeing our sinful, imperfect selves, He sees the only perfect person who ever existed. What a wonderful mental picture. What a relief to know that when I die and I go to stand before God, He will not look and see my pathetic, sinful, human self, He will see me through the "Jesus Filter" and smile and welcome me with open arms. What a wonderful gift. Why would anyone NOT accept this gift--it's beyond me.

So on my favorite day of the year, I hope that everyone will accept the free gift of Jesus. We ALL need it, whether we believe that or not. And we DON'T deserve it, because we are sinners, BUT THAT'S WHY HE CAME. That's why he died on the cross. That's why he lay in the tomb for three days. And that's why....

HE IS RISEN!!!