Easter is coming up in a couple of weeks and that’s the inspiration for today’s verse from Romans 8:34 which says:
Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Easter gets me all fired up. It’s a little goofy but, like Ricky Bobby praying to baby Jesus laying in the manger, I like to envision certain things in my own way. Here’s how I like to picture Easter morning at the tomb:
But unlike the scene in this video, there were not two equally-matched fighters but instead one beautiful, perfect, infinitely strong competitor (Jesus) matched against a pitiful, deceiving weakling (the devil). But still, it’s fun to think about Michael Buffer in a tuxedo standing at the tomb belting out “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!” as Jesus emerges.
Easter is the celebration of the culmination of God’s long plan to bring us as close as possible to Him in the simplest way possible. He made it like paint-by-numbers, 1-2-3, a-b-c. God, in the form of man (Jesus) bore 100% of all of our sins and all the sins of all who lived before and who will live after us, in order to offer us the gift of eternal life with Him in heaven. It is an open-hand gift and to possess the gift, we need to decide to accept it:
And the way we accept it is to claim Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. A google search of “what to say to accept Jesus as my savior” results in various simple prayers, all of which are 3-4 sentences, like:
“Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God and Savior of the world. I believe that you died for my sins and rose from the dead. I believe that through your sacrifice, I am a new person. Forgive me for my sin and fill me with your Spirit.”
Of course, if you really say those words sincerely, then that’s just the beginning of the journey. While you are saved solely through faith (accepting the gift), when you accept the gift your heart will be changed and you will want to serve Him by loving and serving others. The reason I bring this up is the same reason I picked our verse today – Jesus is our risen, living savior who is actively interceding for us in heaven.
In other words, He’s clocking in every day and renewing His commitment to us. As Easter approaches, this is a great time to ask ourselves if we’re clocking in for Him every day too.
Most people reading this likely have already said the simple prayer above, accepting Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. But, even if that’s the case, it doesn’t hurt to repeat it and to reinforce our commitment. Everyone please take a minute to do that now. [take about a minute to say the prayer and meditate on it]
Ding ding!
Questions:
- Does Easter get you fired up? Why or why not?
- We are called to be “Easter People”, meaning celebrating the message of Easter at all times. What does being “Easter People” mean to you?
- When we said the prayer of commitment today, were you moved in that moment? Did God put anything on your heart you would like to share?
- We know Jesus is “clocking in” and interceding for us every day. What does it mean for us to clock in?
- Following up on question 4, did today’s lesson inspire you to take action of any kind this coming week?
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