It really is so easy to get lost and confused amidst the chocolate bunnies and sweet, sugary eggs... isn't it?
Fluffy, yellow chicks and pink bows...
They seem to be everywhere.
And the things people say... and the way the world describes it.
Easter.
And everyone has an opinion... and some so righteous and pious that it makes you want to choke on the saccharine sweetness of it all.
Makes you want to spit it right out of your mouth and scrub your very skin with the hypocritical stink of it.
And there seems to be this great divide... the Christians on the one side and the rest of the world on the other... and even the Christians can't agree... can't get it right.
So how on earth are you supposed to navigate your way around the holy egos... the hypocrisy... the do-as-I-say-don't-do-as-I-do...
How on earth... when wars are waged in His Name and children lie bleeding in dusty deserts and starve to death in forgotten countries... how on earth... when Christians go about living lives that scream hypocrisy 6 / 7 of the time and spend 1 / 7 in self-righteous judgment of the ones who don't fit... who are not pure... clean enough.
How on earth when there is so much pain and fear and dirt in this world...
So much hurt and so many hurting.
Ask a Christian and we will tell you that Easter is holy. Even as we fill our mouths with yet another chocolate rabbit... we will tell you that it is the holiest of days.
We will say that Easter is about Him.
Jesus.
The Christ.
Good Friday is when He was crucified... the baby in the manger... killed.
Dead.
On a Cross.
Bruised and bleeding... His lifeblood ebbing away...
... while we eat chocolate.
It is not, you know.
It's not that simple.
Yes... it IS about Him.
Jesus.
The Christ.
But it's about so much more.
So, so much...
You see... Easter is about you.
You...
It's about a Holy God who loves you... not a bleached-purer-than-snow-white you... for there is no such thing.
It's not about a pure, sin-free you... no matter what we say... there is no such thing either.
Christians sin.
Sometimes we forget.
But yes... we sin.
All the time.
No matter what we say.
No matter how many fingers we point.
We are not perfect... perfection placed on earth... called to judge the 'imperfect'?
No.
Only He is perfect.
No... it's about a man... a Man who is God... who is alive...
A God who is no longer a baby... and we forget that sometimes.
A God who was man for a mere 33 years...
A God...
Who loves you.
You!
Desperately.
Fiercely.
Jealously.
Who knew you... YOU... before you were conceived... who saw your unformed body within your Mother's womb.
Who loved you then... has loved you unceasingly.
Who loves you now.
Right now.
Who hears the questions that your heart screams out... the questions that nobody else hears...
The questions you wouldn't want anybody else to hear... because you are so afraid of the answers.
A God who sees your shame.
Yes... shame.... and no matter how hard you try to forget... It always creeps back.
Settles on you like a fog.
Shame.
A God...
Who sees your tears that fall in the dark... He counts them... did you know that?
...every, single tear that has cut a groove through your spirit...
He sees the desperation.
The fear.
Easter is about all this.
And more...
Much, much more...
Easter is about a war.
A dark, bloody, fierce, violently unceasing WAR... and the prize?
For yes... there is a prize.
Isn't there always?
Spoils for the conquorer?
The prize for the victor here on earth?
You.
You are the prize.
You are what this war is all about.
And make no mistake... do not be fooled... this war is real.
It is waged every second of every minute of every hour... all around you.
Unseen.
It is fought... all around you.
And this war is exceedingly fierce... for one reason...
And that reason?
It is perhaps an unlikely war... perhaps because it is not waged with human hands... human weapons.
For, although the battle rages on... the war itself...? It has already been won.
The war of the ages was won... Two thousand years ago.
On a Cross.
The baby-become-man-become The Christ!
When He took it all... your filth... your hurt... your sickness... your fears... your pride...
Clutched it to His chest... willingly... and thought of one thing only as they drove the iron spikes through His hands...
As they mocked Him... spat on Him.
As they drove the iron spike through His feet...
As his lungs fought for air... the pain engulfing...as He choked on blood... His blood.
As that blood ran down staining filthy, the dirt... the dust.
He thought of one thing only.
You.
And on that day... in THAT battle... the fiercest and bloodiest of wars... the war of the ages... was won.
It was won.
No matter what is said... no matter what is whispered in your head.. your heart.
He won.
Jesus.
The Christ... He is the Victor.
But the battle... the battle for the spoils...
For you...
This will wage on for a time still.
And He will not stop looking.
He will not stop calling... for you.
Your name.
You are enough.
As you are.
Enough.
For even though your heart whispers secrets... that vibrate through your very soul... that you could never...
You could never be enough... who would want you?
I know those voices too.
They slither around in your heart... their slimy tentacles reach inside your head... sickening taunts that remind you of your sin.
Remind you of your failures.
Your past.
Your future.
That you could never be loved...
They. Lie.
Lie.
Hear this one thing today...
There is nothing that you could do to make Him love you one tiny bit more...
There is nothing you could ever do... ever... to make Him love you any less...
He knows YOU.
He chooses YOU.
Forget the chocolate.
The bunnies.
The fluffy, yellow chicks.
The opinions and lies and egos and hypocrisy.
Easter is about you.
It always was.
And it will always be...
He will never stop calling your name...
He... Jesus... The Christ.
He is all about you...
YOU ... as you are... right now.
You are His one... His ONE reason.
You.
xx
gracegirl
