He Is Not Here, For He Has Risen... (Matthew 28:1-6)

The past few days my schedule has not been such that I could post my devotional reflections. But as the season of Lent comes to an end and I reflect on the final devotional on Easter Sunday, I wanted to make time. Here's a quote from today's devotional:

In the Good Friday reading, it is mentioned that the cross only has meaning in light of Christ’s resurrection. It can also be said that the resurrection only has meaning in light of the cross. New life in Christ is born out of suffering and death. Jesus’ suffering and death had a unique quality to it: it was redemptive. It redeemed the world from the judgment of sin.

As followers of Christ, our lives are to have a unique quality to them. As with the suffering and death of Christ, our lives are to be 'redemptive'. Paul writes that we are Christ's ambassadors. We have been entrusted with the redemptive message of God's love poured out in Christ. Therefore every ounce of our lives are to be filled with redemptive power.

Do you look at your life that way?

When you suffer, do you look for the redemptive message in it? When you experience gain, do you turn that blessing into a message of hope for others? One of the greatest challenges facing us (I believe) is to allow every moment of our lives--those we see coming and those that hit us from the blind side--to serve as a vessel for the story of God's redemptive work in Christ. We must let our sufferings, our blessings, our joys and pains "be for" God's sake. Otherwise, our lives have no meaning. The resurrection of Christ, and our future resurrection, gives meaning to our lives. Can I, through my life with all its circumstances and happenings, speak into the lives of others to help them find that same meaning? Can you?

He is risen...just as he said.