We have officially entered Spring and the Easter season! With it comes warmer weather, baseball, and most importantly a season of excitement in the Church. While it might not be as nostalgic as Christmas, there is definitely an Easter spirit that rivals the Christmas Spirit because it celebrates more than the arrival of a savior, but his finished work! You can see it as you drive through town or scroll through social media and see church after church inviting you to join them for worship. People who rarely attend church even start to pick out new clothes they might wear to church on Easter Sunday. The opportunity for the proclamation of the gospel and celebration of our risen Lord abounds. These are all good things and should fill us with excitement, passion, and joy for the Lord as we reflect on what it means for us and those Jesus died to save, but what if we kept the Easter mindset with us year-round?
The reality is that Easter serves as a great reminder of what Christ has done for us through his death burial and resurrection, but this truth should be contemplated and fueling us every single moment of every day! This truth is seen in one of the most robust and complete reflections on the Resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 when the Apostle Paul says in verses 57 and 58, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” Paul is saying that because of the victory we celebrate during Easter, namely the salvation brought to us by Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection we ought to rest in it and allow it to be the reason we always work for the Lord. Notice the word always! Paul is telling the Corinthians and us that because of the resurrection we always have a reason to work for the Lord, laboring for the advancement of his kingdom, so that others might know him more. This is not only to be done one Sunday or a couple weeks out of the year, but always according to God’s word!
Easter tends to energize us in our evangelism and community outreach, but the truth behind Easter, namely the victory over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:57) is available to us each Sunday and should be the focal point of our worship services, sermons, relationships, outreach, and really everything we do as Christians. While it can be exhausting to always work, we can remember that we are not working for victory, but from victory. Death is defeated. Sin and Satan are silenced. Jesus is victorious! This message needs to be proclaimed to all who will hear, so yes, we make the most of Easter as people visit churches or show up merely out of tradition, but this same message needs to be heard on July 31st as much as it does on March 31st!
Christian, enjoy this Easter season as you reflect on Christ’s finished work, but don’t let it end on Sunday. Always remain steadfast in the truth of the resurrection and always be willing to celebrate and advance God’s Kingdom with the same level of excitement you have in this season. Not only do we have something to always fuel our Kingdom work, it also gives a reason to always be rejoicing. As Paul says in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice.” The cross and the resurrection always give us a reason to rejoice and a reason to keep going. Keep excitement and energy of Easter every day and watch as God shows us that he has much more in store for his church than a couple of big holiday celebration!-