it's all about YOU

if i've heard it once i've heard it a thousand times -

"it's NOT all about you."

most of the time you hear this from preachers behind a pulpit/podium/podcast as they try to stir their congregation to acts of service. i've also said it as a parent when one of my kids get prideful or out of line. but this morning i had this amazing epiphany. sometimes, it is about you. and about me.

the bible says that it was for the JOY set before Him that Jesus endured the cross:

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2

for one breathtaking moment in history, it was ALL about you.

you were the joy set before Him. you were the reason He willingly laid down everything He was, so you could become an heir of everything He has. what a debt we owe to Him! how could we possibly fathom the love that sent Him to the cross in our place? 

His death was only the beginning...

the grave had no choice but to be a witness to the greatest coup that hell had ever experienced: the Resurrection. and we celebrate Easter because Jesus conquered death, hell, and the grave. if Jesus had remained in the grave, then my hope is futile. as a Believer, everything i put my trust in would be a sham. and if that were the case i certainly wouldn't be wasting my time writing about such dribble. but over 500 witnesses testify to the fact that the tomb could not hold the sinless lamb of God.

and THAT's something to celebrate! 

i love how the message bible puts this same scripture into a passionate plea. as you read the words below let them sink deep down into your spirit. because He lives, we have the same resurrection power residing on the inside of us as Believers. don't lose sight of where you are going and what He is calling you to do. go over the triumph of Easter again and again until your heart is set on fire by the very joy that filled His soul at calvary.

"Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!" Hebrews 12:1-3 MSG

may this Easter find you more in love with the Savior than you ever believed possible, and may you rest secure in the fact that He has risen...

He has risen indeed!