On My Birthday...I am Reminded of These Things

Today is my birthday. I won’t say which one, because it truly doesn’t matter to me. My date of birth is a starting point; the day I was brought into this world by God. The date that means more to me than today’s, however, is the day I realized that the only way to get back to Him was to recognize the significance of a very important day of death and rebirth.

My birthday has always fallen close to Easter. In fact, today is Maundy Thursday...which is the beginning of the Easter weekend, and tomorrow is Good Friday. That means, of course, that Easter is this Sunday. When I was a child, a local realtor company would send a man in a bunny costume around the neighborhoods handing out candy. More than several times, my birthday party guests would get an extra treat as we all ran out to the driveway to watch him come by and give us candy. That was always a memorable experience for all. Then I grew up and came to realize that Easter isn't about a man in a bunny suit with candy at all.

The exact date escapes me today, but I know for a fact that the day that I prayed for forgiveness and “met Jesus” was a Sunday in December of 1998, probably the first Sunday of the month. From that day forth, my life as it was before was changed forever. You see, from birth we enter this world into sin. No one, no matter how “good or bad” of a person, how often they go to church, or how well they know Scripture, gets out of life alive. None of them, furthermore, get into Heaven without a Savior. It took me almost 24 years to figure this out.

Most of all my childhood and adolescent life was spent knowing that people talked of a God and of Heaven and Jesus, but I had no clue what any of it meant. For that matter, I was awfully skeptical it was even true. I wondered about how God did what He did, how (if He was truly real) He could allow Jesus to die on a cross, and most of all – what for??

I met my husband when I was 19 and time moved very fast. I realized quickly that he was “the one” and that we would be together for a long, long time. I also knew that he was from a very strong Christian family and there were some real questions I had. He answered them all, in love and with grace and truth. Many nights after dancing we would discuss things and I’d ask questions. Fast-forward two years, after being married and having our first child, and I really started seeking. I found the answers to questions I had, through our church that we started attending with my in-laws, and also in reading and paying attention to things others would say. Finally (there is much involved in my learning and knowledge of the plan of salvation I won’t go into for time’s sake in this post), I realized what it was I needed. It was Jesus. I went forward for prayer in church that Sunday morning and told Jesus I needed Him. I told Him how I believed in Him, knew the sacrifice He made for me on the cross, and how I knew He arose and now sits at the right hand of God in Heaven, one day to return. And by His blood, and what He did, not ANYTHING I have done, we will one day be face-to-face and I will live in Eternity with Him.

I won’t go into all the details that satisfied my thirst for knowledge about the Truth – the questions that had to do with if it was all “really real”, because I want those reading this to search for themselves. A few good resources, though, are: “Betrayed” by Robert Tanenbaum, a Jewish man whose daughter converted to Christianity and he set out to prove to her it was false and became a Christian instead, the book “The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel, a man who also set out to find credible evidence that Jesus was truly the son of God, and there are several videos on YouTube by Louis Giglio that show him speaking about scientific proofs which are true as well. I’m not just going to feed you the information, though, you have to see for yourself.

You see, today on my birthday I have a profound knowledge of what Easter really is about. It’s not about Easter eggs, not about cute hats and bonnets, or that second yearly visit you make to a local church just hoping God will forgive you for all the other Sundays you missed. It’s not about how many candles you light, or whether the choir is singing, whether there is an organ, a piano, or a band, or whether the pastor wears a robe vs. jeans and a polo. It’s about a baby born of a virgin, who came into this world to save mankind. It is about a boy who grew to be a man who taught people about forgiveness and true salvation, and how to live like He would live. Most of all, He came to tell us that Easter was coming. That He was born to die on a cross, to be denied by men (and women like me) and scorned by those He came to save, so that ALL of mankind could live life eternal, through grace. "For whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life..." (John 3:16).

This year, my birthday wish is that I could stand (virtually speaking) before you here and now and proclaim what Jesus has done for me, and tell you that He did it for YOU as well, and my hope would be that you would accept this gift and know Jesus and His plan of salvation for you. No matter what you have done, no matter how “clean” or how “dirty” you are in your sins, He died to wipe them away.

On birthdays we often think of presents...gifts wrapped up in pretty paper and topped with a bow. Well this Easter, do me one favor. Remember that the gift of salvation is wrapped up in the beautiful box and wrapping that is Christ Jesus. What good is a present you won’t receive? What good is a beautiful box with a gift inside that you never open? This Easter, many people will be setting out to participate in egg hunts with their kids. What if I told you there was an egg out in a field with a very special gift inside – the gift of eternity – and all you have to do is hunt for it, find it, open it, and receive it to be safe from the sting of death and eternal separation? It’s there, my friend. Don’t just leave it in the grass and deny it. Don't ignore that Jesus is there. He is waiting for you to receive Him into His loving arms, to one day rejoice at your arrival beside Him. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." (Ephesians 2:8,9)

Tomorrow is Good Friday. Today in Bible study, we talked about how awful it must have been on that day. How horrible it must have been to stand at the foot of the cross, seeing Jesus there...lifeless. It must have looked like failure. It must have been devastating. If we continue to stay there -- in our loss of hope, thinking we are still dead in our sins, we will miss EASTER! We will miss the hope eternal! Easter is coming!! The stone was rolled away and He lives! Hallelujah, He lives! As the words of my new favorite Easter song, by Natalie Grant goes, "Look what Mercy's overcome...death has lost and Love has Won! I am His, because He is...ALIVE.