Blessed are...

“You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He is risen!” (Luke 16:6, NIV) To me, these are some of the most powerful words recorded in the Bible. These words tell us that we serve a God that was crucified for our imperfections, our sins, that He died this horrible death so that we did not have to and that He conquered death. He lives, even today, He lives! We serve a living God! Think about that for a moment…..then take a couple minutes thanking Him for all that He has been through for you.

As believers, Easter is one of the most joyous holidays because, through it, we get to celebrate everything that sets our faith and our Savior apart from this world. Now that the Easter holiday is through I encourage you to stay focused on Christ, on everything that He has done and everything that He continues to do in, through, and around you.

After Jesus’ resurrection he appeared to many people before his ascension into heaven. The other day I was reading about Jesus’ appearance to Thomas, one of His disciples (John 20:24-31). One verse caught me more so than the others that morning, verse 29. Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those that have not seen and yet have believed.” Was Jesus talking about us in this verse? Was Jesus saying that we are to be blessed, to be happy, to be envied because we have not seen Him and yet we have believed? I have read this passage in the past and for some time now I have believed that Jesus was, in fact, speaking about you and I. But more recently I was reminded of Jesus’ healing of the man who was born blind (John 9). Later, when this man was questioned by the Pharisees, he replies “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see.” (John 9:25)

Whatever your view on this passage is, whether Jesus was speaking about you and I, because we have not seen Jesus in the physical sense or not. The truth is, it doesn’t matter! For if you have seen Jesus in the Spiritual sense, you have been blessed immeasurably. Your challenge, then, is to evaluate the relationship you have with The Creator of the heavens and the earth, to come to know Him for who He is in, around, and through you! And then, live this blessing out and share it with everyone around you, today, tomorrow, and forever.