He Is Risen!

 Easter is later this month on April 20th. Trivia question for you - how many times has Easter Sunday fallen on my birthday (April 13th)? I'm pretty old, so you would think that Easter would have been on my birthday at least a few times over my 72 years of living, but no! Easter has never fallen on my birthday since my birth in 1953! The first time Easter will be on my birthday will be in 2031, which is 6 years from now. Hopefully, I will still be among the living to witness that event. Haha!

Speaking of Easter, we had a 5th Sunday class taught by the Monson's in our ward regarding Easter and the celebration of Christ's resurrection. At one point in the lesson, it was stressed that instead of Easter bunnies, Easter eggs, Easter candy, etc. more emphasis should be put on the fact that Christ died and then rose again on the 3rd day and that He lives again. A resurrection had never taken place in the history of the earth prior to this magnificent event.

I was very touched by the "He is risen" aspect of the lesson, so I went to Hobby Lobby the next day and purchased a wooden sign with that wording on it and hung it on the Easter wreath I have displayed on our front door.

For me, this is a message to let anyone who comes to our front door know that our Easter focus is on the fact that Christ was resurrected more than anything else. I do have other decorations in our family room, but this particular decoration will be the first one any person will see before entering our home.

I also bought this "Happy Easter" sign to put on our front porch.

I have always loved the story of Christ's resurrection, particularly that a woman, Mary Magdalene, was the first person to find the empty tomb. She reported to the Apostles Peter and John that Christ's body was missing and they ran to see for themselves if it was true. Apparently, John was the first to grasp that Christ had risen from the dead. He writes that "he saw, and believed."

I didn't see it for myself, but I completely believe that Christ, who died on the cross to atone for our sins, rose from the grave 3 days later. His resurrection paves the way for each of us to be resurrected at some point after we leave our earthly existence. That will definitely be a glorious day. I understand that we will long to be reunited with our bodies once again. 

I'm so grateful for the Easter holiday so I can be reminded of the great gift Christ gave each of us by his suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, his death on the cross, and his miraculous resurrection. Christ really lived a matchless life - a life like no other has ever lived before. Easter is definitely worth celebrating!