The Day After Easter

What will you do with this Risen Lord?

When the songs have been sung, the dress has been worn, and nothing is left of Easter but wilting lilies and foil wrappers.

 

It was Friday and Sunday was coming.

Then, it was Sunday… but, it left too.

Now, on to Monday—the day after. The day after Easter it is back to work, back to school and probably, back to normal.

 

But should it be?

Why does the Church fall asleep from Easter until Christmas? Or, at least until June when Christmas stuff comes out at Hobby Lobby. We don’t have just two Christian holidays. In fact, one of the most exciting parts of our calendar is right around the corner as well.

 

 

Appropriately, most everything we have worth celebrating is related to what Christ did. Christ was born. Christ lived. Christ died. Christ rose again. Christ left. Wait, do we celebrate that? We sure should! Christ left. And, when He did… the Holy Spirit came.

And, when the Holy Spirit came–the Church was born.

 

We should take a good long look at what comes next… because Friend, there is “a next.”

 

What came next, first? Obedience.

In John 20, Mary encounters the Risen Lord. She is the first person to see Him, the first time He is seen. Jesus tells her, “GO to the disciples… TELL them.”

Mary went. Mary told. Immediately.

 

The day after Easter we can be sleepy and sluggish, full from fellowship and full from food, and slow getting back to business. But that’s nothing compared to how they felt the day after the FIRST Easter. They were devastated, traumatized, afraid, grieving, physically sick with heartache, unsure what had happened, unsure what would happen next.

 

But when Jesus commanded, Mary obeyed. And that’s all we need to know. There it is. There is our first example. We don’t need to compare Scriptures or look at commentaries, we don’t need more information or someone else’s thoughts on it. It could not be clearer.

The day after, actually the moment after, an encounter with the Living Messiah… the only appropriate response was obedience. Not contemplation or consideration.

O-BEE-DEE-INTS

Friend, if you find yourself the day after Easter unsure what to do next… do the last thing the Lord asked you to do. And do it well. If you are unsure what that is. ASK HIM.

He will tell you.

 

What do we do with this Risen Lord? We obey Him. We go where He says to go. We say what He says to say. Until He says to do something different.

 

“Jesus Christ, My Risen Lord, help me to obey. Show me in your Word, reveal to me through Your Spirit, how best to obey You. Give me wisdom to know where to invest my time, what to labor towards, who specifically to show Your love to and how. Help me to obey as Mary did, joyfully and quickly. And may you be glorified in it all. Amen!”