The Back Page
By Wendy Squires
I had a friend who liked to do some creative writing. She would sometimes get frustrated if she had a deadline and her paper was blank as she “waited for the muse” to visit, to give her creative inspiration. I like to think that the inspiration for my Back Pages comes from a prompting of the Holy Spirit. Maybe I have kept my mind too busy on other aspects of life and in doing so I have blocked the “still small voice”. Or maybe it was pushed aside by my trying to force my own agenda, not His, that has made it difficult to start and complete this article. So here I am on the eve of the deadline and am only now putting down the words that feel right to share. I hope you find them worthwhile of a read.
Part of the challenge this month is that it is the Easter edition. You would think this would be an easy topic to address, and it in fact is. But I kept thinking, oh I have written a few Easter articles. How can I change things up, what can I write to make it new, exciting, and worthy of printing.
Oh silly me. The beauty of Easter is in its unchangeable message throughout the millennia. It is the same old, wonderful, amazing, blessed story and there is absolutely nothing that I can add to or rearrange in my writing to make it any better.
It is the reality that the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Great I Am loved me and each and every one of us so fully and completely that he was willing to put all His glory aside to become a sacrificing servant. He was willing to accept the cup that He was given and to follow the Father's will. He submitted Himself to the humiliation, and to the pain of a trial and death on a cross. He was willing to take on all my sins and the sins of the world, on His shoulders, and in doing so separated Himself from His Father. I have often wondered if this pain surpassed the agonizing torture of the crucifixion. I can't imagine the anguish that must have been felt by the disciples, His mother Mary, and other followers as He was gently taken down from that cruel cross and laid in a borrowed tomb following His death. But the power of Easter lies in the fact that this is not the end of the story.
For we serve not just a good man a wise man, a loving man. We serve a risen saviour. And this makes all the difference. His the one true God.
He became my bridge back to reconciliation with my loving Father. And He will continue to be my advocate even up to the time when I stand before God in glory. When God looks upon me, I will be seen through the lens of Jesus' righteousness, not mine. So how do I adequately thank Him for His great sacrifice? Within His words we have the answer. And it is beautiful in its simplicity and profound in its application. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and Love your neighbour as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) It is a new challenge each and every day, achievable through His love, grace, and strength.
Easter. It is definitely the greatest story ever told.
