The Beauty of Easter!

Epitomizing spring, the season of rebirh and renewal, Easter is perhaps the most beautiful and refreshing time of the year. And this Easter day may be the most beautiful that I have ever seen. I started my day by rising early for a 6:45 a.m. Easter sunrise service at my church, delightfully becoming first acquainted with the glory of this day.

I can't imagine a day being more blessed with beauty than this one, Sunday, April 12, 2009, Easter Sunday! By the same token, I can not imagine anyone being more blessed than you and me to be able to behold and enjoy a day like this in all its natural splendor. The sky is the bluest I can remember seeing it with nary a cloud to block the brilliant sunshine that warms my soul as if it is proceeding directly from the smile of God :0). The grass is green and lush, just begging for bare feet and Easter eggs to be hidden beneath its verdant blades. A fresh breeze caresses the body, signaling us that God Himself is constantly near if we just take the time to experience Him. The birds are chirping the happiest of tunes, rejoicing in the peace that permeates this magnificent day. Under the Lord's precise climate control, the afternoon weather conditions are simply supurb in every way. The mountains are magnificant. God is the most masterful of artists! To step outside on a radiant and picturesque day like today is to be surrounded by irrefutable evidence of God's certain existence, His unconditional love, and His abiding grace.

Truly, as the beloved gospel song inspired by King David's words in Psalm 118 states, "This is the day that the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it." Above all, let us rejoice in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior! Because Jesus paid our sin debt by shedding His precious blood while suffering on Calvary's cross and because He is risen, we, who are Christians, have atonement and freedom from the sins that once bound us and the hope of an eternity in our Lord's presence in paradise. We have the blessed assurance of eternal life in Heaven simply by our faith in Christ through God's grace. I certainly believe! This is the essence of Easter! Because Jesus lives, believers share in the victory of life over death that He achieved when truimphantly from the grave He arose. That, my friend, is the real beauty of Easter!

As we go forth from this indecribably beautiful Easter day, let's strive to allow this spirit of rebirth and renewal in Christ to engulf and bring us joy every day of our lives. Praise the Lord! To God be the glory! Hallelujah! Amen!

Happy Easter,
Richard