Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
1 Peter 1:21 NIV
The little airplane gained speed and lifted off the runway at Los Angeles International Airport. Because it was a small shuttle plane, I had a good view. It was amazing how quickly the people, then the cars, and then the buildings shrank in size. As we turned south along the coast I could see beautiful big homes clinging to the cliffs above the ocean, but they soon gave way to small dots of homes, rows and rows of them looking just alike from the air. The people and even the cars were now too small to see. Whole towns could be seen in one glance.
How is it that we became so important that God, way up in heaven, pays any attention to us? We are so insignificant. And there are so many of us – more than 7 billion! How is it that He hears my prayers, that He has a plan for my life, that He cares about anything at all concerning my life? How is it that this great God, who sees, hears, knows, and controls all things in the entire universe was willing to come as a baby to this insignificant blue ball we call home? That He was willing to live in the midst of the squalor of this world is amazing in itself, but the sickness, the hurt, the abuse, the sin, must have been so painful. And He did all this so that He could die a humiliating and painful death on the cross. Amazing, isn’t it!
But praise God, the story does not end there. He rose from the grave, a victor over death. And that is what gives you and me meaning, worth, and hope. He did it for you and me – and for all those billions of other people who live in all those mansions, suburban homes, those huge apartment buildings, tenant housing, little hovels, and mud huts.
It is His resurrection that gives us hope, that gives us a future. As Paul wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless… And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins” (1Cor 15:14-17 NLT). But Christ is risen! We know that. Now, let us go out and live for Him as well, accepting the worth He has given us and extending that worth to those around us. There are still millions and millions who don’t know any good news. Today is the day to tell them: “Christ is risen!”
Blessed - Copyright © 2012 by the General Conference Women’s Ministries Department