"Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb while it was still dark..." (John 20:1). Tonight as I think about what is significant about Easter Sunday, I am thankful for so many things in my life. I know, we as Americans usually reserve "Thanksgiving" as the time to reflect on our thankfulness, but this is such an important event in the life of a Christian (or a fully-devoted follower of Jesus Christ) and I thought I would just Praise our Lord and give thanks. Some of the most difficult times of my life have come to me in the past 5 years. Having a back injury, losing my job, getting Hepatitis C and Diabetes. Ongoing stomach problems; and, oh yeah, cancer (in fact, I just had a lesion removed from my back last week that turned out to be cancerous as well, but fortunately, they got it all so all seems well with that). Wow, that's a lot of stuff and that's just one side of the dynamic duo of Dave & Barb Stallings. My precious Barb suffers daily from fibromyalgia, Asthma, Migraines, Chronic Fatigue and a host of other physical limitations that make it difficult to get out of bed each morning. I must be missing something; seems the list is much longer. Anyway, we have, without a doubt, encountered some difficulties that really exercise the emotions daily.
But I wanted to talk about thankfulness. In the verse above, Mary came to the tomb that Sunday morning for the purpose of caring for a "dead man". Someone she was sure was dead, had been buried and she fully expected to find Him in His place, unmoved and without any disruption. When she arrived, she noticed that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb and that alone was enough to arouse her suspicions and cause her to run back to tell her friends about the situation. How many thoughts crossed her mind as she ran back to tell the news. Is it possible that she was thankful that "something" was up at the gravesite that would cause an investigation? Perhaps! Of course when the complete discovery was made, everyone who knew of the Christ became thankful that His words became "fact" that beautiful Sunday morning.
As it turns into Easter Sunday morning here in my home, I am so thankful. I am thankful that we have a God who cared enough about our eternity to send Jesus, to do what no one else could have ever done, so that we might live forever. Something is wrong with all of us; our bodies, that is. They were not created to sustain life forever (well maybe originally). But our spirit was. And I am thankful that God breathed life into the first Adam and gave him the spirit that dwells in us tonight. Thankful for the trials that have allowed me to speak to others in a way that could have never been possible otherwise. Just getting time to share Christ with a Catholic friend last weekend from Mexico was such a thrill and it would have never been possible without God's actions in my life. In his broken English he explained to me that I "Wide his thoughts". How precious was his response. I am thankful that God has put people in front of me that would never have crossed my path had some of these medical conditions not existed. But mostly, I am thankful that we have a savior who was powerful enough to cross the barrier from death into life and today, intercedes for you and me.
Today is Easter Sunday 2008 and I am very thankful. Too thankful to not mention it and too thankful to take the time and space to list all of the blessings, except to say. I hope you are considering your thankfulness on this special day in our lives.
Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday 2008!
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