Easter is a time of celebrating Jesus’ resurrection. It is
also when barren branches take on new life. Spring flowers are resurrected from
dry bulbs. Baby birds hatch and all of nature experiences rebirth.
In Ezekiel 37:1-14, the prophet tells of a vision he had in which
the graves of the exiled Israelites are reopened, and their dry bones resurrected
when God’s Spirit breathes on them. His vision expresses hope in the rebirth of
Israel, a people defeated and humiliated.
We, too, can experience resurrection. Yes, at the end of the
ages the final resurrection will occur when Jesus comes back to take believers
to Heaven. But resurrection is not only the fact of rising after death. It is also
the promise of new life today.
Like the dry bones Ezekiel saw resurrected to new life, we
can receive a fresh start when we trust Jesus to forgive our sins and invite
His Holy Spirit to take control of our lives. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that
anyone who trusts in Christ is a new creation. The old life is gone; the new
life has come—a desire that all of us want at some point in our lives.
I remember the Sunday morning my neighbor knocked at my door
and asked if we could talk. He was struggling with alcohol addiction, anger
issues, and a recent diagnosis of bipolar disorder. He had refused to even try
AA, attend anger management classes, or consistently take his medication. His
family constantly walked on eggshells, their lives full of fear and chaos. An
episode the night before had initiated a chain reaction that threatened not
only to split him off from his family but land him in jail.
As he sat there in my living room with his head in his hands,
he groaned, “I just wish I could get a fresh start.”
Perhaps our circumstances have never been as dire as my
neighbor’s, but we all realize at some point that we have messed up and we wish
we could wipe the slate clean and begin again. On our own there is no fresh
start, no resurrection of a whole and holy life from the ashes of our own
destructive behaviors and erroneous beliefs. But with faith in Jesus, we open
ourselves to the presence and power of God’s Holy Spirit, who can breathe new life into us—just as
easily as He resurrected the dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision.
Jesus can forgive all our wrongdoing and failures. He already paid the price for that forgiveness when He died on the cross. And just as He rose from the grave, we can rise above our misdirected and sin-filled past to walk beside Him in a new life as a new creation.
Jesus can forgive all our wrongdoing and failures. He already paid the price for that forgiveness when He died on the cross. And just as He rose from the grave, we can rise above our misdirected and sin-filled past to walk beside Him in a new life as a new creation.
Be encouraged!
Pam
©2019 Pamela D. Williams
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or email (writepam71@gmail.com).
