Spiritual Growth
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Easter is Now!
It is Monday morning and I'm writing this article on one of my "dates" with Zoe, our three year old daughter. We felt adventurous this morning and so we're trying out a new breakfast spot. Well, not a new breakfast spot as much as a different restaurant. Most of the elements are pretty much the same. Zoe is enjoying her same pancakes and chocolate milk and I'm drinking my same diet coke. The booths are essentially the same and the whole decor looks oddly familiar.
We have encountered one big difference: the play area is closed for cleaning. This variable is both disappointing and reassuring. The play area being closed is disappointing because playing is a big part of what Zoe and I like to do together. It is fun to see her laughing and smiling as she climbs and slides here way through the jungle gym. I enjoy watching her meet new friends and, on occasion, hearing her shout, "Daddy, it's just for me today!" Today as I write this article and Zoe "writes" her own article on the back of some papers I hope I don't need, we're disappointed that the play area is closed for cleaning.
The play area being cleaned is reassuring as well. With our family, and just about everyone we know, dealing with some kind of flu or other illness this season it's great actually seeing these public areas being maintained well. It is encouraging to see them being prepared for our future use.
Too much of the time I think we approach Easter just like Zoe and my encounter at the closed play area. We are encouraged and reassured by the fact that Jesus cleans us up and is preparing a place for us for all of eternity! This is a promise we can hold onto with certainty and we should be very excited about this future. Sometimes I wonder if we unnecessarily go through life disappointed thinking that the promise of Easter is only for the future. Jesus came to offer us life to the full beginning now! Jesus for today as much as He is for tomorrow and for eternity! I'm convinced one of the keys to living the full life Jesus offers is to live the simple life. A simple life is a life less distracted from the really important relationships in our lives, a life filled with meaning and a life heading in the right direction.
On Easter Sunday we'll begin to discover together how the story of easter teaches us to live this more simple life! You'll want to make sure your friends and family are with us for this special three week series.
Because of Him,
Lance
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
- John 10:10 (NIV)