Daily Devotional for March 27, 2016

Acts 2:29-32   
My friends, it is right for me to speak to you about our ancestor David. He died and was buried, and his tomb is still here. But David was a prophet, and he knew that God had made a promise he would not break. He had told David that someone from his own family would someday be king.

David knew this would happen, and so he told us that Christ would be raised to life. He said that God would not leave him in the grave or let his body decay. All of us can tell you that God has raised Jesus to life!

Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.

This morning, I awoke to a beautiful sunrise over the valley outside our window.  My first thought was one of great comfort and joy…“Jesus is Risen!” I looked around the room at all of the preparations that had been made for this day.  The table was set to serve lunch to eleven, and the ham and side dishes were in the oven.  There were “Easter sacks” on the hearth filled with gifts for Timothy, Zola and Nathan.  The children had new outfits to wear today, and there were plenty of gifts and “new” things from others, as well.

This also signaled a new chapter in the life of our family…our first holiday dinner since my mother died.  She is spending this Easter Sunday in Heaven with Jesus… my dad and brother, her own parents and in-laws, and countless cousins and other relatives and friends.  No doubt, theirs will be a huge meal, with all of the “family favorites”…and the fellowship will be unbelievable.  I cannot wrap my brain around literally sharing “family dinners” with Jesus…but I look forward to the day when I can!

The message of Easter is not death…but life! We sometimes miss this!  We get so bogged down in the events that led up to this day…and they are important.  But a friend shared a blog post yesterday in which the writer aptly reminded us that Jesus rose from the grave and spent the next 40 days telling us how to spread the Good News.  He didn’t talk about Heaven…Jesus talked about how we were to go…preach…love others…share the Gospel…and “make disciples.”

So as you attend worship today, enjoy a sumptuous meal, hide and hunt the eggs, and eat far more candy than one person ought to consume…consider WHY Jesus rose from the grave. Think of what He has called us to do…and all that this week means for us.  He saved us, cleansed us of our sins…and called us to do great things in His name.  All parts of this equation are important. 

We cannot accept salvation in Jesus, then sit down and wait to die.  We must get up and get going!  Jesus is Risen…what about you?

©2016 Debbie Robus