More Than a Once-a-Year Easter

I’ve always struggled to get excited about special days – even great days of celebration like Easter and Christmas. After all, shouldn’t Jesus’ reality in our lives be more than just a once-a-year tribute?

Now we’ve come to Easter again. Because Jesus lives, we can have true life as well. It’s awesome that we can have fellowship with Him NOW, without having to wait until we get to heaven.

But let’s face it: We don’t just need Jesus’ resurrection power once a year. Even worse, some believers have only experienced the power of God once in their lifetime – the day they got saved! No wonder so many experience drab, unfulfilling Christian lives.

Perhaps to our surprise, there is no scriptural record of the early church celebrating Easter. To the contrary, believers back then understood that the resurrection power of Christ is meant to be an everyday, moment-by-moment experience. The apostle Paul wrote:

If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (Romans 8:11).

If you’ve given your life to Christ, the same Spirit who raised Him from the dead lives in YOU. His resurrection power lives in you TODAY, and you don’t have to wait until next Easter to get another dose!

It’s heartbreaking that so many Christians are still trying to live FOR Christ, without realizing God’s plan for Christ to live His life THROUGH THEM. “It is no longer I who live,” Paul declared, “but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20). Anything less than this is empty religion and futile self-effort, destined to be fruitless in the eyes of eternity (John 15:1-5).

In Second Corinthians, Paul often described the trials he experienced and the lessons he learned: “We were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead (1:8-9). 

When Easter is more than a once-a-year experience, we recognize that we can lean on God’s resurrection power when life gets tough. Yes, there may be times when we’re “burdened beyond measure” in our finances, health, emotions, relationships, or some other area of life. But that’s when we discover the all-sufficient grace and faithfulness of the God of resurrection – the “God who raises the dead.”

So go ahead and celebrate Christ’s resurrection power in your life this Easter – but then keep on celebrating that amazing reality every moment you live!