Death Defeated: Praise Be to God!

"Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.  Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me." Psalm 66:16-20

Easter Sunday was one of conviction for me.  It convicted me in a way that I don't know if it has before.  I had the opportunity to watch The Passion of the Christ and a documentary called Beware of Christians this weekend.  And, I've been reading the book of John.  It's so convicting as lent comes to an end.  Thinking about all of the areas that I daily fall short, all of the time that I don't live for God, all of the areas in which I struggle... and then knowing that Jesus suffered so much so that I could live for Him and with Him -- it's humbling.

Most people reading my blog have probably seen The Passion of the Christ.  It's hard to watch really.  God, in fully human form suffered so much, spilled out so much blood so that we could live with Him. I had never seen the movie.  As a visual learner, watching that movie, made it so much more real.

And then, last night, I watched Beware of Christians, a documentary about some college kids who traveled around Europe exploring faith questions.  Their struggle is one that I can identify with.  For so much of my life, I did not understand salvation in its fullness.  The guys in the film talk about the distractions of life: media, alcohol, sex, money, relationships, and materialism.  But the thing that stuck out most were the interviews.  The guys interviewed people and over and over again, they were told that the Christians that these non-believers knew were in no way different from the non-believers.  Christianity is not a rules-driven religion.  At least it should not be... it should not be about do's and dont's.  But, how is it possible to know Jesus, to have the Holy Spirit inside, and not stand out among people who don't know Jesus at all?

Over the last few years, I have been praying to God, that He would help me be completely in His will.  Whereas I do not think that I can completely be in His will, I know that I can strive to be more in His will each day.  And, I have seen God answer my prayers.  I inevitably fall to temptations, sin regularly, and don't  thank God half as much as I should, and yet, I hope in all of my humanness, a non-believer could see something different.

I think among Christians, we believe that non-Christians would notice us by our perfection... our ability to withstand temptation, be perfect in our relationships, and care about those around us, and yet if that is our belief, that it is perfection that we aim for, we miss the whole point.  Following Christ is about reading and learning about Jesus, being in relationship with Him, and living our life as though we understand the resurrection.  After all, He is Risen!  He is Risen indeed.  If Jesus defeated death, then why do temporal things have importance? How can we not follow Him? How can we not live our lives in a way that shows our appreciation for what He's done in providing life after death.

Do we really understand that Jesus, after being tortured, nailed, and hung, died?  Do we understand that he then came back to life? Do we understand that because of His love for us, we can have fullness of life -- full of the hope, love for even those hard to love, and forgiveness?   In this Easter season, I hope to even partially start to understand the immense love that God showed or me, not just by sending Jesus to die, but by defeating death!  And, I pray that because of my partial understanding -- not that He would make me perfect, but that my life would reflect something different, something not of this world... so that non-believers would come to know Him though seeing what He has done for me.

May God bring me closer to Him during this time of Feasting!  May I love more like Jesus loved, live like all are watching, and laugh like one who has hope because of what He has done for me and has yet to do.