Our weather changes somewhat abruptly from day to day, and keeps us on our toes figuring out what to wear. Actually, an outfit that may have been carefully chosen for a brisk morning can have us wondering what we were thinking by the afternoon!

My Papaw always planted by The Farmer’s Almanac and after years and years of farming and watching the seasons change he had his own ideas about most everything. One thing that Papaw believed was that people who planted before Good Friday were asking for trouble. He said it was just a tease if the weather turned warm and pleasant lulling folks into planting because there would definitely be cold weather blowing in right around Easter, and he called this the Easter snap.

We have seen several storms lately with the warm and cool weather mixing. It almost seems like the earth is experiencing birth pangs struggling to welcome the new season. And what a wonderful time of year it is, especially for Christians. We look forward to all the beauty of the season with Easter egg hunts, lovely decorations, chocolate, and family dinners, but that is only a miniscule part of our celebration.

The joy of being a Christian comes from knowing that our religion is different from all others in the world. We are the only ones who serve a risen Savior! And Easter is when we celebrate the empty tomb! Our God is alive, and his Holy Spirit lives in true believers everywhere.

I say true believers because in our part of the world everyone says they are a Christian, but the Bible says that just because a person says it that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s so. The true test is a life that is different from the world because Christians are to be a peculiar people. Not weird, necessarily, although some Christians are weird for sure, but different from the general population.

The Bible says that Christians will be known by their love. We all make mistakes and fail at times, but if the love for others, especially brothers and sisters in Christ, is not there, then someone may just be wearing a label. I don’t know how I got off on all that, maybe someone needed to really look at their actions and see if they genuinely love others.

It’s virtually impossible to know Christ as Savior and not love because God is love. He loved us so much that He freely gave His life on a cruel cross so that we could live. At this beautiful time of year I challenge each of us who know Christ to walk closer to our Savior each day, and if you aren’t a Christian and want to find out more, please get up and go to church this Easter Sunday. You will find a lot of imperfect people in any church, because we are all imperfect. But if you go really looking you will find a perfect Savior. Easter Blessings to you all.

 

Jan Penton Miller writes a weekly column for The Oxford Eagle.