This Post May Cost Me A Few Blog Readers

Today is Good Friday. Great Friday actually. Today commemorates the day in which Jesus of Nazareth was crucified for the charges of claiming to be God. This day begins the weekend of Easter celebration, that is culminated this Sunday when Christians all around the world will join together in worshipping God for what was accomplished when Jesus died on that cross, and then was miraculously resurrected 3 days later.

I'm not going into a huge theological discourse today, since the Victory Blog has always been known for its brevity. So let me make Easter as clear as I can.

Jesus death on the cross, and the blood that poured from his crucified and punctured body was to pay for the penalty of the sins of the whole world. If you believe that Jesus death on the cross paid for your sins, that makes you a Christian. If you do not believe that Jesus died on the Cross for your sins, there is no point in celebrating Easter.

Easter is not a day for getting together with Family, or eating chocolate bunnies. The day of Easter has always been a day set aside to thank God for the life of Jesus. You can get together and celebrate Jesus as a family, but if you're not celebrating him, you're just using the day as an excuse to eat chocolate eggs and ham.

Let me make a point. I don't know when any religious holidays are for Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Shintos, Wiccans, or the like. Even if I did, I wouldn't gather my family around and have a meal together because it was 'Ramadan' or something. Why wouldn't I do that? Because I'm not a Muslim. I don't believe what they believe. There is no point in me even wasting a moment recognizing a holiday that has zero spiritual significance for me that has huge significance for them.

Can you tell me when the Nation of Nauru gained its independence? What is their most significant National holiday? I'm sure you probably haven't even heard of that nation. But you can tell me the day the US celebrates our Independence, because its important, because we're Americans.

I'm sure you see my parallel if you're still reading this blog.

Here's the deal- you may be reading this blog and thinking, "you know, that Matt sure has really funny blogs the rest of the year, why does he have to hop up on his soapbox". I'll tell you why-

Because when Jesus died on the Cross, he did it for the whole entire human race. Past present and future. He went through that horrible death so that you and I could be in an unencumbered relationship with the God of this universe.

All He asks is that we would simply believe in Him, his payment for our sins, and choose to live for Him. Its quite simple. Believe in Jesus and what he did and then live for Him in all you do.

This Easter can be different from all others for you if you've never thought about it this way. As you're reading this blog, today, you may be for the first time realizing what Easter is all about. That's great.

Pray this prayer- "God, thank you for sending your Son Jesus to die on the Cross for my sins. I believe in Jesus and today I confess him as Lord. I believe that you raised him from the dead, and today I declare that I am going to live for you and not myself. Amen".

Have a great Easter. Find a great church to go to. Raise your hands to heaven and thank God that you can now spend eternity with Him because of what Jesus did.

Be Blessed
matt

ps. I'm always available to talk about this stuff. Email or call if you have questions.