Easter Morning Thought

1 Peter 2:24
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

The past 2 weeks, I have worked my way across Nebraska and then down to Wichita, Kansas last Monday. Early Thursday morning I headed West to see accounts in Hutchinson, Great Bend, Hays, Dodge City, Garden City, and then Liberal. After seeing my last account, I headed South. Leaving the southern tip of SW Kansas is an experience of beauty, rolling hills, and oil wells. The drive is one of the most scenic, prettiest and memorable routes of any in the United States. I arrived in Aspermont, Texas late Friday evening and stayed at a little RV Park a Christian lady owns. The last 4 years she has not been there when I arrived in the late hours. This time she was. I wrote her out a check for 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012. She was flabbergasted and asked why? I told her that I owed her and what I was doing was paying my debt to her. She smiled and accepted my payment.

Yesterday, I left at 6:30 am and headed southward down through Abilene, Brady, Mason, Fredericksburg, Luckenbach, Borne, and then to the gun club in San Antonio. Another gorgeous route down into the hill country of Texas. I come here each year to call on some of my shooting accounts Monday – Wednesday, who attend this major shooting championship. I literally kill two birds with one stone! Plus, I get a chance to shoot some competition trap.

Last evening I watched the Passion of Christ on local TV. I had never seen it before. I was very uncomfortable as they beat and mutilated my Christ. Now, I don’t claim to have a special and out of the ordinary link to Jesus, as we would know communications and technology today. What I mean is that I realize that Jesus died for my sins and I have accepted that payment He made on my behalf. What I did not understand before last night was the amount of punishment he bore. It is almost unconceivable. It was also very inhumane. My link to Him would be the promise of reconciliation that He made to me in Gods Redemptive Word, the Bible. Yes, I have confessed with my mouth that Jesus is Lord; and Yes, I asked Jesus to forgive me for my sins; and Yes, I asked Him to become the Lord of my life; but, until last night, I never really understood what He took upon Himself for me! He was tortured on my behalf. He was innocent, where I am guilty. 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.”

Now, I realize that I have a huge debt that I owe Him. My problem is that whereas I could make a payment to the RV Park lady to get caught up and back in good standing; I know now that I do not have enough money to ever get caught up with Christ for what He did for me. No amount of $; no amount of righteous living; no amount of church attendance; no amount of good deeds; no amount of mission trips to Haiti; no amount of anything I have, own, owe, or hope to have could ever have enough restitution or value to make even a down payment on what happened at Calvary! Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. What do I have? What can I do? What hope is there for any of us if we are left alone in our sins and depravation? There is nothing we can do on our own. This is what I realized last night.

The Good News today is this - Galatians 2:20 tells us the only hope is to accept what Christ has done, by faith, believing that He died personally for me, and accepting it by believing it in my heart, and then trusting Him as Savior and Lord. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

This is the purpose and reason for Easter - so that men and women can understand and accept the payment that Christ made for our debt. God has accepted the payment of Jesus dying on our behalf. The question for you is - are you willing to accept what Jesus did for you? If you are, then smile. Your payment has been accepted!

Your thought for today.