O Glorious Day!

"Living He loved me, dying He saved me, buried He carried my sins far away.  Rising He justified, freely forever, one day He's coming, O Glorious Day! O Glorious Day!" - Casting Crowns

Easter is on my mind today because it's coming up this weekend.  I've struggled in the past with holidays such as Easter and Christmas.  Not because of what they symbolize, but because our society makes them so much into a stressful, non-glorious type occasion.  I get pretty bah-humbuggy about Christmas because of all the extra junk associated with the holiday, and no one even seems to remember what it's really even about.  Easter has been kind of the same for me in the past, and I always wonder what I'm supposed to teach my child about how to "do the holiday" and still understand it's meaning.

I still haven't figured that out completely, but what I can say is that my understanding of what Easter means to me has changed so much over the last few years that it somehow makes the other stuff fade into the background a little.  As long as I remember what it's really about then that's what counts.

Remembrance.  That was the topic of our sermon this past Sunday at church.  Remembering who we were created to be.  Remembering that God has placed us in our world, at this exact time in history, in our neighborhoods, in our jobs, in our circles of friends at this exact moment for a specific reason.  Remembering what He has done for us through all our circumstances.  It's so important.  Awhile back I went through all the really big "aha" moments in my life and wrote them down.  I called them my "stones of remembrance."  Remembering makes it easier to forge ahead, realizing that you haven't been alone, that what you have been through has meaning and purpose and relevance for the future. 

What I have learned about the meaning of Easter, really has everything to do with remembering what God has shown me about who He really is and how precious I am to Him.  I can look back over my past and remember that even when I was very very young I felt His presence and calling out to me, even when I didn't know what that meant.  I can remember that He protected me and was my guide as I went off to college and began to show me what it meant to believe in Him.  I can remember how He literally saved me from crawling inside myself and shutting down after we had a late term miscarriage.  I can remember how through the pain of all of that, somewhere deep within me was a song of joy and praise that didn't come from me...it came from a place that I didn't know existed, and somehow there was joy in my life despite pain. 

I could go on and on.  These "stones of remembrance" help me remember that He who promised is faithful:  "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior" (Isaiah 43:1-3).  They give me a reference to go back to every time I get overwhelmed by life again, or forget what a holiday like Easter is really about.

Easter is about how Jesus came to this earth because He loved me.  How when He died, he saved me from all my wretchedness and mistakes and the punishment that I deserve.  How when he rose, he justified me, or rather showed me that what He did for me was warranted and well-grounded and something He did freely because of His love for me.  I know that this is the true meaning of Easter because I remember how He demonstrated all this for me through my "stones of remembrance."  It is my true hope and desire that anyone reading this can look back over their own lives and remember and see how He has freely done this for you as well.  May Easter take on a whole new meaning for you this year - may it be a GLORIOUS DAY, and may you be changed forever because of the revelation.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXp6xcY5IqU