A couple days ago was Good Friday. The day we remember the sacrifice that Jesus made when He died on the cross for our sins. I’ve been reflecting on that sacrifice a lot this week. I don’t think we can fully comprehend the pain He endured for us. Because beyond the physical pain we can read about in medical accounts, He also experienced the guilt and shame of taking on all the sins of the world. All your sins past present and future. All my sins past present and future. Plus He then experienced separation from God. This something we can’t even begin to understand because of His connection to God through the Trinity is far more complex than we can begin to comprehend. So being cut off (God abandoning Jesus on the cross- Mark 15:34)

But even just the thought of the physical pain alone that He took willing on Himself so that we can live in freedom from being eternally separated from God moves my heart deeply. How amazing is that kind of love!(John 3:16) And how much more amazing is the fact that He died taking on our sins even before we came to Him.(Romans 5:8) He died for my sins of me in my high school years doing everything I could to run the opposite direction from Him. He died for my sins of addiction even after I came to Him and was trying to change but kept falling back into sin. He died for all the times I’d dramatically get frustrated at Him, say I wasn’t sure this Christian thing was for me, and would want to just go back to living my live anyway I wanted. And He died for all the stupid sins I will commit.

Who does that? Who loves someone that much to see how many times over their life that they will one minute praise God and the next be running as fast as possible in the other direction, but they still do what is necessary to have them in eternity and to have a relationship with them here on earth. And to love you that much that He would die that agonizing death on the cross for you! Honestly, finding words to even write this is difficult for me.

So if we really do our best to understand this sacrifice Jesus paid, then wouldn’t only be natural to want to follow Him? Wouldn’t we want to do our best to be like Him in every way? With love so amazing as His, wouldn’t we want to love like Him? Yes, we are human. We will mess up. And He died for those times too, but if we take into account the weight of the price He paid, wouldn’t we take our freedom in Him seriously? Our freedom cost Jesus so much to abuse it and do whatever we want without thought would be a slap in His face.

Hope in the resurrection!

Today we celebrate Easter, when Jesus overcame death and raised from the grave! Praise God He didn’t stay dead! And because He overcame the bondage of death, if we put our lives and hope in Him, we too can conquer death. And that same power that rose Jesus from the grave lives in you if you put your faith in Jesus. That means that whatever struggle or addiction or pull of sin you might have, you have the power through Jesus to overcome that as well. He paid for your freedom from sin. He overcame the bondage of death so that you can know the freedom from sin and overcome the bondage of spiritual and emotional death that sin brings! So take these promises to heart. Have hope dear readers! Because Jesus is alive and He is waiting for you to put your life in His hands and let His love and word convict your heart and set you free from the slavery to sin. Will you accept the payment He made on your behalf today?