Julie Lavender

GUEST BLOGGER

My guest blogger today is my writing friend, Lyneta Smith. We met in person at last fall's Enrich Conference, and like all of us there, became fast friends and writing buddies. (Check out this year's lineup for the 2019 Enrich conference here.)

Writing conferences are such an opportune time to grow as a writer and meet delightful, like-minded yet diverse friends from all across the country, and sometimes world! 

Please enjoy Lyneta's words below about an empty tomb on that special day in every Christian's life: Easter! 

A Matter of Life and Death: He Is Not Here! He Is Risen!

He is not here. He has risen! Luke 24:6

The angels' words at the tomb mean the difference between a life that means something and a life that dissipates like a vapor.

Most of us grow up with awe and wonder as we learn about God and our place in the universe.

Then comes adulthood, with myriad responsibilities and disappointments. We rely on routines and, if we’re honest, our own performance more than seeing God in whole new ways.

I recently found myself asking, Is this all there is? Am I just waiting until I die or until Jesus returns for God to reveal something new and exciting? Doing all the worship and serving, pressing forward until He comes?

Though but a blip in light of eternity, decades of relying on our tried-and true methods of worship can seem to stretch out forever. Often, the same lackluster Bible study routine, a ho-hum prayer life, and lack of expectancy could describe my relationship with Jesus way better than vibrant and alive.

More than I care to admit, I look forward to distractions to keep me from being bored with this life. Vacations, our growing family, plans for our home—these all keep the boredom at bay.

But time with Jesus shouldn’t be mundane. He's the Bread of Life, not day-old bread. He’s alive and His Spirit is at work on the earth. It’s fresh and new every morning, just like His mercies. Kingdom building is an ever-growing, dynamic work of God that, when we’re awake to it, never stops being thrilling and engaging.

The God who raises the dead to life wants a vivid and dynamic relationship with us. It’s what He created us for and why He sacrificed His Son—so that we could have an abundant life.

This Easter, my prayer is that God would resurrect our routine relationship into something lively and potent. That I would go through life awake to the work He’s doing and be eager to accept the invitation to join. That I would be fully alive until that day I am raised imperishable at the last trumpet.

I pray this for you, too, my friend—that God would show Himself in ways we’ve never seen before. That we would once again have hearts that leap for joy at the familiar passage from Luke 24:6: “He is not here [dead in a tomb]. He is risen!”

Lyneta Smith is the author of Curtain Call: A Memoir. She writes and speaks to help others move from trauma to triumph by trusting God with their stories. She and her husband are (mostly) happy empty-nesters who live near Nashville, TN. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her spending time with her adult daughters or chatting with friends at the local coffee shop.