Easter is Coming!
by Dr. Jay Wolf
Pastor, First Baptist Church Montgomery
If you look at a map of the vast Pacific, you can discover a small spot called Easter Island. A Dutch navigator, Jacob Roggeveen, named this tiny place in Polynesia “Easter Island” since they encountered it on Easter Sunday of 1722. Because of the island’s appealing name, people flock to it each Easter. After a short visit on this uniquely named location, the tourists climb aboard the boats and go back to the mainland. Their visit to Easter is finished.
My friend, Easter is not an island or even a day to be visited; but is God’s invitation to experience His living hope! Easter should become your daily experience of living with the risen Savior. It is the pulsating heartbeat of authentic Christian faith. That is why God’s Word proclaims, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (IPeter 1:3)
The living hope of Easter made it possible for the famed missionary David Livingstone to affirm, “I go through the jungles of Africa because my Jesus is by my side.” The living hope of Easter compelled Savonarola to state before he was martyred for his faith, “They may tear me to pieces and kill me, but they shall never tear from my heart the presence of my Christ.” God’s living hope enables you to face the harsh tribulations of this fallen world with faith and courage that will lead you to God’s victory!
Allow the next few days to constitute your runway that will prepare you to soar into the most spectacular Easter of your existence. Let every new leaf of spring and every blooming azalea remind you to live in the light of the empty tomb. Determine this spring, not to simply visit Easter, but choose to experience the resurrected Savior’s living hope every day!
