Best Weekend Ever

Do you ever get excited about an upcoming weekend?

I know I do … and this weekend is one that I am really excited about. In fact, it may be the best weekend ever  … or at least in my lifetime.

So why am I so excited about this upcoming weekend? Is it because my beloved Kentucky Wildcats are 38-0, in the Final Four, and the favorite to cut down the nets when it is all said and done?

Well of course that makes for a great weekend. I would like nothing more than to see my Cats win number 9 by taking care of business against Wisconsin on Saturday and then hopefully finishing off a perfect season by beating the team that I like the least of all teams … The Duke Blue Devils … on Monday night.

However, that is not the real reason this is going to be the best weekend ever. Just in case you don’t know why it is the best weekend ever, let me fill you in.

This weekend is the best weekend ever because Friday is Good Friday. Friday is the day we celebrate Jesus being sentenced to death for crimes he did not commit. Friday is the day that we celebrate Jesus going to the cross as an innocent man in order to pay a debt we could not pay. Friday is the day that we celebrate the sacrificial death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now tell me, what is more important for us as Christians to celebrate than the death of Jesus? I mean it’s not called Good Friday because it was good for Jesus, it’s called Good Friday because it was good for those of us who believe in Him as our Lord and Savior.

So let me tell you what’s more important? Let me tell you what makes the weekend even greater.

It’s the Sunday that follows Good Friday. It’s Easter Sunday. It’s the day that we celebrate … not the death of Jesus … but the resurrection of our Lord and Savior which makes this weekend so great. Because without the resurrection, the death he died on Friday would just be an ordinary death. But it’s not. The resurrection changed it from an ordinary death to an extraordinary death. In fact the resurrection of Jesus changed everything.

The resurrection is why this is going to be the greatest weekend ever.

The question I want you to ponder today is this? Has the resurrection of Jesus made the difference in my life that it should? Or is there more that you should be doing because of it. Because you see, people want to hear the good news of the resurrection. They want the salvation that it provides. Yet if that is all they seek from Christ death and resurrection, then they miss out on so much more.

Can I let you in on a little secret today? Jesus didn’t die on Friday, lay in the grave on Saturday, and experience the resurrection on Sunday morning just to keep you and I out of hell. Sure that is one of the benefits of a relationship with Christ, but it goes much deeper than that. Jesus gave his life in order to make a much bigger impact on us who call themselves Followers of Jesus.

He didn’t simply die to give us eternal life. He died to give us abundant life as well.

That means that he died to set us free. Free from the grips of death. Free from our sins. Free from our past mistakes and regrets. Free from the things of the world. However he died for more than that as well. He also gave his life in order for us to be changed from the person we are into the person God created us to be.

So this weekend as we celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Will you take some time and think about what Jesus has really done for you? And while you’re at it, will you also make a commitment to God? Will you say to him, God because of what you have done for me by giving me life and life eternally through your Son, Jesus Christ, the least I can do is to give my life to you as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to you.

Because if you are truly appreciative of what God has done for you, then the least you can do is give him back what he deserves and that is your life.

Plus, if you do, not only will this weekend be a great weekend for you … It will perhaps be the greatest weekend of your life!