While Easter,
Easter Eggs, and the Easter bunny grab headlines in secular circles, Christ’s
Crucifixion on Good Friday merits more than a little attention. What does
it mean for us? Romans 6:23 teaches us that the penalty for sin is death,
but God, through his Son Jesus Christ, gave us an immeasurable gift. So
that we might have forgiveness and avoid His Father’s most extreme penalty for
our sins, Christ, a pure and perfect being, sacrificed Himself. He
suffered immensely for us. He took our punishment so that we can receive
God’s forgiveness, even though we do not deserve it. He provided selfless
service to us.
How can we
recognize the gravity of this immeasurable gift? By providing selfless
service to others, even when it is inconvenient, or even immensely
difficult. We awake every day to reports of political turmoil.
Hate. Reminders of how and why we must despise and fight our fellow
countrymen and women and everything the “opposing camp” stands for.
But it needn’t be
so. Remember that Americans are more alike than different. We are
all imperfect, but we are also all children of God. As our Declaration of
Independence reminds us, we were all endowed by our Creator, with certain unalienable rights: life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. God
gave us all, no matter our political affiliation, the great gift of life.
Our Country, and indeed the world, will be a better place if we forgive
perceived trespasses against us by those we disagree with; if we take a moment
to perform an act of kindness for someone we don’t understand or someone we are
told to dislike; if we emulate Jesus by serving another, whether we perceive
they deserve it or not.
May
God Bless All Americans, and may you take respite this Good
Friday in the solemn gift of Christ’s crucifixion, and celebrate this Easter
Sunday in the miracle of His Resurrection.
Justin R. Zinzow
CEO
on Behalf of Team Z
