Devotion: Living as an Easter people

In case you missed it, April 17 was Easter. It was awesome! The churches were filled with folks singing praise to God and declaring, “Christ is risen indeed! The forty days of Lent leading up to our celebration of Easter increased our anticipation as well as our appreciation of Christ’s resurrection. It’s natural for us to feel a little “let-down” this week. But remember that Easter is not done. It’s only just begun!

Easter is not just a day. It is a season that lasts fifty days, culminating on Pentecost, June 5. And, in a larger sense, Easter never ends! Every Sunday, even those in Lent, is a “little Easter.”

Avery and Marsh wrote a lovely Easter song that proclaims “Every Morning Is Easter Morning!” Other reminders of the resurrection are the signs of new life all around us: daffodils blooming, robins in our yards, buds on the trees, and new calves frolicking in the fields.

Our challenge is to live out the promise of Easter, to accept the new life that we have received through Christ and to embrace it!

In Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Chapter 6, he asks the question, “Should we continue to sin in order that grace may abound?” His answer is a resounding “No!”

Paul writes, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:3-4)

Let us then lay aside our old selves with all their fear and shame and bitterness. Let’s unload the baggage that holds us down and gets in the way of living a joyful and fruitful life. Let us put on Christ and live as Easter People!