Last night, we began looking towards Easter as a family. Gathered around the dinner table, we paused before eating and for a moment watched the flicker of a candle. I knew the figure before my eyes was simply a wooden representation of the One who bore it all, but just the tangible reminder in front of me made a lump form in my throat.
He knew.
He knew, as the day of His death approached, of my sin-- all of it.
He paid it all anyway.
And, in an act of grace that still takes my breath away, He pursued me. And He still pursues me.
This year as we look to Easter, I tell Daniel and I tell the children and I tell myself that I don't want this season to be marked so much with the absence of things as it is marked with the presence of Him, our Redeemer. What good is going without if it isn't also accompanied by entering in?
And so the children's Bibles, each representing a different stage of reading, are stacked right on the table where they are within easy reach and we take extra care to spend time in His Word. We remind ourselves and we remind each other to pause more often to be with Him, to cherish His gift of love, to treasure the sacrifice and victory that He freely and willingly shares with us.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Romans 5:5-10
Romans 5:5-10
