The Promise Of Easter

 

“Because I live, you shall live also” (John 14:19).

We need these seven words above to help us to endure

The changing world around us that’s dark and insecure

To help us view the present as a passing episode

A troubled, brief encounter on life’s short and troubled road

For the fact that life’s eternal because our Savior died

And arose again at Easter after He was crucified

Makes this uncertain present, in a world of sin and strife

Nothing but a stepping stone to a new and better life

— HELEN STEINER RICE

On Easter, Jesus did a wonderful thing for us. But just how does this translate into everyday experience? A story told by Gigi Tchividjian in ‘More Stories for the Heart’ explains what can be yours because Jesus died and rose again on Easter.

In the story, there was a man who felt terribly guilty about a sin he had committed as a young man, because he thought God could not forgive him. One day he heard of an elderly lady who had conversations with God, and finally he gathered enough courage to visit her. Over a cup of tea, he asked if she could ask God a question for him.

"I would be happy to," she answered. "What would you like me to ask Him?"

"Well," the man began, "could you please ask Him what sin it was that I committed as a young man?"

The woman, who was quite curious by this time, readily agreed.

A few weeks passed, and the man again went to visit this woman. After another cup of tea he timidly asked, "Have you had any conversations with God lately?"

The woman said that she had, and that she had asked God what sin he had committed as a young man.

The man, nervous and afraid, hesitated a moment and then asked, "Well, what did God say?"

"He said He couldn't remember," she replied.The Bible tells us that because Jesus took the punishment for our sins, God promises, "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:34).

Author: Nana Williams

Alice Gray, More Stories for the Heart (Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Publishers, 1997).