By Katy Mariotti
Jesus in the Everyday
You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”
1 Peter 1:3-4 English Standard Version
I have a confession to make: Easter, as a holiday, has never been my favorite. As a churchgoer, and then from a young age as a choir member, Easter always meant early mornings. Springtime in Colorado is rarely warm, but I would still insist on summery Easter dresses that I would then freeze in most of the day. Where I live, Easter Monday is not really a thing, so that always meant that no matter how celebrations would go, it was always back to getting ready for the week on Sunday night. I work at a church now so Easter also means lots of extra work!
Can’t life be like that? Like Christmas, Easter can get bogged down by the mundane: How are we going to dye eggs with eggs so expensive? Stores have run out of all the “good” candy. Where are we going to have dinner? What are we going to wear?
The good news is that Easter joy doesn’t come from the holiday and the tradition. Easter joy is in recognizing the resurrection of Jesus in our everyday lives. The same God that created the Earth, who paints beautiful sunsets, who gifted me my beautiful family, who makes flowers grow, who blesses us with music, loved me enough to send His Son Jesus for ME. One of my favorite parts of Easter is that we start saying in church every Sunday:
“He is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!”
Not he WAS risen… He IS risen! And as the verse in 1 Peter says, our inheritance in Heaven is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.” No matter how things go here on earth, Jesus lives! Alleluia!
Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado
