Chocolate is nice, but there’s another kind of Easter egg that is infinitely better.
It’s called an “Evidence of God’s Grace,” or more simply, an “EGG.”
EGGs are everywhere, and yet most people, even Christians, are astonishingly blind to them.
Do you realize that it is God’s grace that keeps your heart beating all through the night? Boom, boom … boom, boom … boom, boom. If his grace ceased for even a moment, so would your life … as well as the lives of your family and friends.
When is the last time you thanked God for the blessing of a beating heart?
It’s his grace that enables you to connect with the people who are dear to you … to see a warm smile, to hear the words, “I love you,” to feel the soft skin of a child, to smell and taste a specially prepared meal.
When is the last time you thanked God for your senses and the relationships they allow you to enjoy?
It’s God’s grace that secures your civil freedoms, allows you to learn, heals your illnesses, maintains your income, keeps your aircraft in the air, guards your country, and moves others to forgive you … even when you are not very repentant.
When is the last time you thanked God for such things, or expressed appreciation to the people who serve as channels of his grace into your life … your parents, siblings, spouse, children, friends, or co-workers … or the policeman, teacher, nurse, employer, pilot, or soldier who preserves or enriches your life?
Of course the greatest EGG of all is what we celebrate at Easter: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
This priceless sacrifice not only secured our eternal salvation but also purchased for us every EGG we experience while we walk this earth.
So as Easter approaches, let me invite you to go on an EGG hunt. Let’s deliberately obey the exhortation Paul gives to us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Here are three ways you can join with me and others in seeing and celebrating evidences of God’s grace.
- Pray for God to open your eyes to see the countless blessings he lavishes on you and your family every day. Keep a list of what you see. Worship and rejoice in God for his many kindnesses. And then thank each person he uses as a channel of his grace into your life between now and Easter.
- “Like” us on Facebook and share your EGGs on our wall. Be sure to check back daily between now and Easter to be inspired by other EGGs and post more of your own.
- Enlist your family, friends, or study group in a team EGG hunt. Explain how to look for evidences of God’s grace and then compile a written list of the EGGs each person has seen or experienced every day. As each blessing is described, drop a dime (or a dollar!) into a jar. Then, on Easter Sunday, count the money and select a person or ministry to bless by giving them this evidence of God’s grace.
To spur you on in this celebration of God’s goodness, RW360 will randomly select five people who post EGGs on our Facebook wall and send each of them an autographed copy of Resolving Everyday Conflict. We will also randomly select two families who email us their list of EGGs and send each of them a Young Peacemaker resource set.
I pray that the practice of looking for EGGs will not end on Easter Sunday. May it continue until it becomes as natural as breathing, enhancing your relational wisdom by making you more God-aware, self-aware, and other-aware with every passing day.
-Ken Sande
Permission to distribute: Please feel free to download, print, or electronically share this message in its entirety for non-commercial purposes with as many people as you like.
© 2013 Ken Sande
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