Be Deliberate.

He is risen... He is risen indeed!

Awesome thought when it really gets down to it, isn't it?

I spent a wonderful weekend celebrating Christ's resurrection in music and fellowship. I don't think I can ever recall an Easter sermon in my past that included speaking about both Christ's resurrection and the hind quarters of peacocks. Wow... way to go Pastor Gilmore!!

One thing that struck me a little differently this year was a simple thought: Mark 16:6 in the KJV states "He is risen"... The NASB states "He has risen"... both showing us that this occurred in the past. Well duh, Jim... of course Christ was resurrected in the past, what's your point? My point is, "now what?"

We know why He was crucified and we know what it means for us to put our trust in His death and resurrection, but now what?

For some of you, you are undoubtedly reading this and saying "I can answer that" or "this seems pretty remedial", but the fact of the matter is our emphasis in society on making such a huge deal out of our Easter services just reminds me how much we are missing the point the rest of the year.

Without question, Easter is something to be celebrated and something to respectfully present in remembrance of Christ's resurrection, but what if that passage read "He has risen... and He is waiting for you!" What about the other 364 days of the year?

You see, Christ has risen and we have the opportunity to know our Savior on an individual/personal level.

This has all come out of personal conviction. It is easy for us to make Easter or Christmas a priority, but how easy is it for us to make Christ a priority? I crawled out of bed at 5:08 am this past Sunday morning to drive 40 minutes South of my house and participate in worship with the church... would I crawl out of bed at 5:08 am to talk with God?

My wife, Ashley, and I are working through this very thing. We have long been dedicated believers and try to be willing to go the extra mile for whomever needs our assistance, but it has usually been at the expense of our time with God. Not that we didn't pray or read, but more the case that we fit it in around everything else that was happening in life.

Our time with God (especially in my case) had become an extra and not a priority.

At the conference in Nashville I had the opportunity to hear Phil Joel speak. Phil is the former bass player for The Newsboys. What he had to say was extremely convicting to me.

Phil and his wife Heather have started a new ministry called "deliberatePeople." The concept is amazingly simple: God desires to spend time with us on a daily basis. We need to make that a priority.

Wow... what a concept. God desires to talk with us. God desires to teach us. God desires us to come to Him in prayer and worship.

Phil's website provides a reading track and some notes on journaling what it is you are learning daily in reading the Word.

This is no great revelation... ask any Christian and you'd probably be told that we are to be in the Word daily. But ask the same believer how much time they spend reading the latest book by "Dr. Eldridge Piper Moore Swindoll" compared to time in the Word and in prayer and see if the priorities align as they should.

Now don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with reading other people's thoughts on life, biblical issues, church issues, etc. The point is are we equally fired up about learning what God the author has to share with us?

A simple concept, but one that I think we are all in need of remembering.

He has risen... and He is waiting for you.

Once a year we all climb out of bed to remember Christ the risen Lord... funny thing is... tomorrow He is still risen. Where will you be then?

In Him,
Jim

(all bible passage links are from BibleGateway.com)