I had quite the Easter weekend. First, a group of 15 kids from the Mulli Children's Family in Kenya are in town for two weeks while they prepare for their choir tour in the fall. I'm helping them put together their program, so almost everything else has been on hold.
In the middle of all that, I threw a surprise 40th birthday party for my husband on Saturday night. Seventy people showed up and we had a great game, including throwing a pie in his face (I've always wanted to do that), and a big SQUARE DANCE! That is not as geeky as it sounds, and even the most die-hard "you'll never get me up there dancing" people had a great time.
Then, of course, there were all the Easter services. Exhausting.
So now we begin a new week, and I thought I would post some Easter thoughts I had.
I was focusing on the verse in Luke 24:5, that says,
In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground. But the men said to them, "why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen!".
All weekend I couldn't get that thought out of my head: "why do you look for the living among the dead?".
Don't we do that? Don't we look for something to satisfy our longing among things that never can? Don't we look for fulfillment among things that will never fulfill?
Don't we spend so much time watching television in order to "have fun" or "relax", and then feel this vague uneasiness afterwards, because we've wasted a night and it wasn't edifying? And we didn't spend time talking with our families instead?
Or take sex for a minute. Don't we look for the next sexual high in similar ways to how our culture does--focusing on the body or the next, best sex trick--instead of realizing the potential that making love has for building a deep spiritual bond between a husband and a wife?
We spend our lives looking for something that gives life among things that don't. And I'm not talking about people who don't believe in God. I'm talking about people who do. We go to church, we love God, but how often do we squander our time and energy and even dreams on things that aren't the point of our lives?
He is risen. He is alive. And He can give us power to live a big, amazing life. But that will only happen when we start to realize that He is the point of our lives, not entertainment, or leisure, or fun. It will only happen when we realize that true joy is so much more than fleeting entertainment. Only when we lay down our dreams of material success and focus on being purposeful will we feel that we are moving forward in this life.
Do not look for the living among the dead. Don't base your life in things that don't satisfy. Those are my Easter thoughts, and they have inspired me to spend more time with my kids again, and focus on relationships, rather than jobs and entertainment. What about you?
This is very true in my life right now!! I "spend my life looking for something that gives life among things that don't". Thanks for the thoughtful insight!
About Me: I'm a Christian author of a bunch of books, and a frequent speaker to women's groups and marriage conferences. Best of all, I love homeschooling my daughters, Rebecca and Katie. And I love to knit. Preferably simultaneously.
Stumble It!
What great thoughts! I need this reminder.