Jimbo's Jots

We did a Daylight Saving Time change a couple of weeks ago. We moved the clocks ahead by one hour. We “lost” an hour of sleep in hopes that over the spring and summer the sun would shine a lot longer. And the pattern repeats itself every year. We fall back in November and Spring Forward in March.

On Wednesday nights, I teach our teen class. Most of the time, we play a game and then get into our discussion. We’re looking at a study I found called, The “Words” of Easter. Last night, our word was Resurrection. But instead of looking at the resurrection of Jesus, we looked at the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11).

In this study, the writer introduces this line of thinking. Upon Jesus’ arrival to the family home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Martha went out to meet Jesus. She said, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” In other words, Martha confronted Jesus with “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve”. How many of us have asked God with this question? “God, if you would have shown up here, then this would’ve happened.”

We wrestle with these types of thoughts about ourselves all of the time, don’t we? We question decisions made; some go back several years. We say, “Oh man! If I had only made this choice, then this would have happened.” And we cycle through and cycle through the would’ve, could’ve, should’ve. We get stuck looking back.

As the story in John continues, Jesus tells Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.” By telling Martha this, Jesus is trying to get her to look forward. Think about that for a second – what is Jesus saying here? Our thoughts get stuck in the dead of the past. We base our life on past choices and related fears we have based on those.

By Jesus introducing himself as resurrection and life, we are not bound by our past. For those of us who believe in the resurrection, we now live with forward thinking. So instead of the “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve” mindset, we now claim life and hope. We say, “I am living the resurrected life in God. No matter what comes my way, God has given me new life to live each.” So, claim it!! Own it!! Live Forward in the fullness of the resurrection!!

Be blessed in the resurrection! Be a blessing to others in forward living!