Easter Week was always a special time of the year for me. The winter snow was almost gone, and birds were migrating back to their northern homes. Trees, plants, and animals that had been dormant for the winter were coming back to life. Our church had been observing the liturgy of Lent in preparation for celebrating the resurrection of Christ. Everything I remember has to do with what I experienced with my five senses. But spiritually, I was dead in my transgressions and sin.
It wasn’t until the Lord opened the eyes of my heart and I was “born again” that I began to personally follow Jesus Christ. He came alive in me, and I began to develop a new awareness and perspective. I experienced major life adjustments as my desire for things I once thought would satisfy were being replaced with one desire, which was to please the Lord.
The season of Lent, Easter, and many of the hymns I used to sing came alive in me, and I began to understand their meanings and significance. The creeds of the early church began to make sense the longer I followed the Lord. As I studied Scripture and the testimonies of men and women who had surrendered their lives to Christ, I was challenged continually to make changes in my life.
Christ died on the cross for all mankind, and the unity of the new humanity transcended the complexity of race, culture, and economics into the simplicity of Christ’s love, acceptance, and forgiveness. Because of the cross, God has chosen to no longer count people’s sins against them when they accept His pardon. We are blessed to participate in God’s redemptive work by sharing the message of Christ’s death on the cross and stop living selfishly.