Hello friends! Happy Easter to you!
I just got back from a brief trip to Searcy, AR for Spring Sing at Harding! It was incredible, just as it was last year. All the performances were great as was Nate and the other 3 hosts. I already can't wait to go back and visit and hopefully it's sooner than this time next year! I want to thank Addison, Nate, Neely, Dillon, Alex, Cam and Reese for a wonderful Sunday afternoon. Thanks to Neely for letting me crash in her room and Addison for going with me. And of course, I thank God for getting us there and back safely, for amazing friends, for the lesson I learned, and on today, for sending His son.
Appropriately, I went to church this morning. What I love is that just a few days ago I wrote about not going to church and how I wondered if it's affecting my relationship with God, and today I feel like I got His answer. But I can tell you about that another day :) Why? Because today is Easter, and I had a much bigger lesson to learn.
It starts last night after Spring Sing. When the announcement was made about the winning performance, the audience cheered, but no one was happier than those clubs. Long after the crowd had dispersed the entire cast was still on stage screaming and jumping with their trophy proudly in the air. They had accomplished something, they had heard good news about their efforts...
Something I've realized recently is that choosing God is common sense stuff. Regan explained it by describing a situation where we're having a discussion and all of a sudden I don't like where he's going. I disagree with everything he says and so I start to argue and yell and cuss and cause a huge scene. I leave and am crossing a street, so distracted that I don't see a car coming straight at me, but he does. He runs out and saves me. Would I still yell and argue and cuss? Not at all. I'd be absolutely grateful to him because he saved me. I would owe him my life. I know that if that were a real situation, there's nothing I wouldn't do to merely attempt to make up what he did for me. See where I'm going? It's a lot more obvious when we think about it like that.
A few days ago was Good Friday, approximately 3 ;) There are two very distinct sides to the argument of how "good" it actually is. I can't help but be biased to my own opinion, but everyone should get a say. Sure, Jesus Christ died in a horribly tragic manner. It was terrible and reading the story always makes me cry. But without Good Friday, there would have never been an Easter Sunday. Jesus wouldn't have been entirely man if He didn't die as a man as well.
It's not new that Jesus died for my sins. It's something I've known for a very long time. The lesson I learned? That there's a difference between knowing something that we hear and knowing something that we feel because when we truly feel the good news, we'll rejoice, just as the winning clubs. As Christians, we know that God loves us, but when we truly decide to turn it all over to Him, that's when we feel it and the words take on a whole new meaning. All of a sudden they're not just songs we sing, but praises to God. It's not just a prayer it's a discussion. We know that God sacrificed His only son to die for us, but do we feel the love that was put into it? Do we feel his mercy and grace? I think that when we do, that's when we rejoice! When we feel like we've won and are so excited about the good news that we can't wait to tell everyone about it.
Like I said, the good news isn't new and sometimes all we need is a little perspective on the situation to really appreciate it for what it is. God saved us by putting His own son in front of that car for us. We owe Him everything that we are and everything that we do. I know that I want to glorify Him with my life, for people to see me and know that I am His, first and foremost. There is nothing that we can really do to repay Him, but God knows that and the beauty of it is that He chose us anyways. Jennifer mentioned a few weeks ago that one person's sin alone would have been enough for God to send His son. As terrible as it is to know that Jesus would have been crusified even if He was just saving me, that's incredible news. God loves us so much more than we even realize. He knew each of us and knew the mistakes we would make, the bad things we would think, the way we would mistreat people and chose to save us anyways. He knew we would yell and argue and cuss and still saved us from that car. That's very good news :) If that doesn't show love, I'm not sure what does.
On that note, my final thoughts are on the ending of Lent. Thinking about the sacrifice that God made to save me, I'm glad that I in return made a sugar sacrifice for Him. It's the least I could do, for 46 days, for someone so awesome. While I have had sugar today, giving up something for Him is only the beginning of many more sacrifices that I want to make for Him. It's merely an attempt to pay back the debt I owe Him for my life. A life that I want to live in Him.
That's all for now!
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