Happy Easter, friends. We’re about to celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Unless you’re a biblical scholar, most of us haven’t begun to scratch the surface of what all that means to us as a follower of Christ. But one day, we will see the full scope.
It reminds me of my daddy who has gone on to be with the Lord. As a little girl, I knew that he sent money overseas to help someone. But I didn’t realize the magnitude of that gift until he passed away. I was reading through his papers and saw that his contributions were not only feeding one, but helping to build an orphanage, provide drinking water and MORE – MORE – MORE. Likewise, who can comprehend the many facets of the resurrection’s MORE?
I don’t know why, but I’ve had several conversations lately with people who are afraid of death. (Here it is Easter and I’m talking about death when we’d rather me be talking about Easter bunnies and colorful eggs!) But I wanted to share words from David Jeremiah that I read the other day about the one thing Christianity offers because of Easter, unlike other religions. Hopefully, it will bring light to Easter’s MORE. David Jeremiah quotes:
It is commonly known that in many surveys of people’s greatest fears, fear of public speaking ranks higher than the fear of death. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld observed that most people are more afraid of delivering a eulogy at a funeral than of being in the casket. Something seems wrong with these surveys. Given the choice, right now, would most people rather die—actually die—than speak in public? That seems unlikely.
Death has always been humanity’s greatest unknown and thus man’s greatest fear. We tend to fear what we don’t understand and can’t control. Religions have made attempts through the centuries to unravel the mystery of death. But no explanation of death satisfies reason and intellect, and gives hope to the heart, like the Christian explanation. Very simply, Christ defeated death by returning to life. Had the resurrection not happened, we Christians would look foolish with our Gospel of eternal life.
1 Corinthians 15:14, 18
But the resurrection did happen! Death has been defeated! And we Christians, in Christ, have been given the victory.
1 Corinthians 15:57
I know that most of you are single moms raising kiddos. Death is not on your radar screen, perhaps because you’re too busy to “go there” or it scares you to think about it. Whatever the case, it is a glorious part of this upcoming Christian celebration. Just thought I’d put a new spiritual thought in your basket of Easter goodies.
About Pam Kanaly
Aloha! I’m Pam Kanaly, President and co-founder of Arise Ministries. But actually, I think Arise found me wanting to bless single moms years ago. Ministry was never on my mind as a kid. All I wanted to be was a hula dancer. So Mother enrolled me in the tiny tots’ class. Guess God knew I’d have two grandbabies born in Hawaii. I love the great outdoors. You might even find me spending time with my husband grizzly bear watching or camping. In fact, it was on a turkey hunt that God gave me the name Arise Ministries in 2002. I suppose it’s a good thing that I majored in Grammar in college since I love to write words of encouragement to single moms.