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“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

I’m confident that every one of us has pressed “send” on a text only to realize after the fact that the phone incorrectly autocorrected a word (or two).  Sometimes, it’s really funny, and both sides of the conversation respond with relevant emojis.  Other times, it creates a huge “yikes” moment requiring a quick apology and clarification.

Then, at times, the phone is truly smart, autocorrecting a word that we mistyped into the correct word.  (This smacks of the whole AI concept, which is frankly terrifying.)  Of course, there are the frustrations of things like consistently typing “fir” instead of “for”, which never seems to be corrected.  But what usual context would someone use “Fir”?  The phone even “helpfully” pops up the tree emjoi, just in case you’d rather substitute it for the oft-used “fir” in our sentences.

But in the days, just after Resurrection Sunday, while I was texting with a sweet sister of mine, she sent me a poignant statement:  “The older I get, the more I love Easter.”  This is beautiful and true!  The longer we walk with the Lord, the experience and understanding of His resurrection become richer, deeper and wider.  And because there is no end to the fullness of that understanding, our experience will grow more awesome annually until we no longer see dimly but see Him face to face (I Corinthians 13:12).

The thing is, she didn’t actually type “The older I get, the more I love Easter.”  The text I received was, “The older I get the more I live Easter.”  Now, I knew what she meant to write..but, friend aren’t these words the greater Truth?  The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the hinge on which all of Christianity hangs.  Without it, there is no victory over sin, no conquered death, no final defeat of Satan..there is no hope for us sinners to be fully reconciled with God.  So, although we celebrate this Sovereign Feat on Easter Sunday, it is this very fact that transforms us at the moment of salvation.  When we accept what Jesus did, we are changed from darkness to light, blind to seeing, dead to alive.

But then the living out of Easter begins. Walking according to His Word each day toward heaven – pursuing His presence, His will and being holy because He is holy.  Will we do this perfectly?  Absolutely not!  But it’s a process (the Bible calls it “sanctification”), and it lasts until we have this fallen world. And just like my sister texted, the older we get – both in our spiritual and physical chronology – the deeper our knowledge of, desire for, and hope in the Lord becomes..the more we LIVE EASTER.

“Jesus on the cross, You paid the penalty for my sin, and through Your resurrection, You conquered sin and death.  May I acknowledge this Truth daily, pursuing you more and more.”

For His Glory

Julianne Winkler Smith
TRBC Women’s Life