Tomorrow is Good Friday. When I was a wee lass, I thought it was so silly to name the saddest day in history “Good”. Why not call it Bad Friday? Or Sad Friday?
Now that I’m (slightly) older, I can see why it was called that. The worst day in history paid for our sins, making it a good day for us, I guess? Deep down, the seven-year-old in me still finds it a bit silly…Besides, did Jesus even die on a Friday? But that’s a topic for another day.
If I was naming things, I would call Good Friday something like Crucifixion Friday, and Easter Sunday either Resurrection Sunday, as it is, or Good Sunday. Because while Jesus died to pay for our sins, the miracle is that He rose again! He defeated death with one breath. That seems pretty good to me. Why do we call it Easter Sunday anyway?
After a quick internet search, it turns out Easter came from a pagan goddess of spring…(I’m throwing my hands in the air) Anyway…I will be calling it Resurrection Sunday from now on.
Despite the naming situation of this season, it’s a time of year for perspective. One of the most detrimental pieces of growing up in the church without a doubt of God’s existence is the ease of apathy. It’s so easy to take for granted Jesus’s sacrifice, or the miracles of the Bible, because I grew up on it. But at Easter, I try to force a little perspective. Instead of letting passiveness reign, I let the wonder and mystery of it all “boggle my brain”. And it works! All the sudden I realize the blessing Christ has given us anew.
Whenever I’m high in the air—on an airplane, a hill, or a mountainside—I marvel at the beauty of nature, and I wonder how people think it came out of an accidental bang. How? Creation is a masterpiece, a mirror to display God’s nature, His beauty.
He gave SO MUCH to us. And all He asks for in return is our hearts.
So, take that step, that leap of faith.
Give Him your heart.
