Have you ever overlooked the priceless?
While attending a conference in Orlando years ago, I joined other attendees as we walked to a beautiful dining facility next door for lunch. After enjoying our meal we later returned to the main auditorium for the remainder of our training. I will never forget what happened next.
The main speaker asked everyone how we enjoyed our lunches and if we had noticed anything special. None of us had seen anything out of the ordinary.
He then strained to lift a rectangular-shaped object and hold it where we all could see. It appeared to be more than two feet long and maybe five inches wide. He asked if we had seen it holding the door to the dining facility open for us. No one had given it a second glance.
We had walked right by something rare as if it was worthless.
"This is a bar of pure silver taken from a shipwreck off the coast of Florida," he said. The silver bar had been loaned by a museum and a guard had been assigned to keep an eye on it. The speaker continued, "It is worth nearly $15,000!" The audience gasped.
We had walked right by something rare as if it was worthless.
Why? How could we have missed such a treasure? There are several reasons:
We weren't looking for it
Our attention was on ourselves
There was nothing attractive about it
We were looking to satisfy our appetites
It was unexpected
Have we overlooked the Glory of Easter the same way?
"Impossible!" you say.
Maybe not.
Honestly, are we looking for Christ to reveal Himself this Easter? Or is our attention on ourselves?
Are we looking for the real, resurrected Son of God or an "attractive" Jesus?
The genuine Jesus was overlooked by everyone except for a few. There was nothing about the way He looked that would attract us to Him (Is. 53:2).
Is there any doubt we generally base every choice on whether it will satisfy our needs? Selfishness is in our nature. Unless we decide to do otherwise we will approach the resurrection of Jesus the same way.
Finally, do we approach Easter expecting an encounter with God?
Typically, our Easter plans may include church, family, dinner, egg hunting, and pictures. These are all good things, but they don't take the place of surrender to and worship of the One True God Who died and rose to pay for our sin.
If we have trusted His death and resurrection to pay for our sin and He is our Lord we have reason to celebrate Easter!
I hope you can gather with your family and worship Him with your church. Enjoy coloring and hiding eggs after a delicious meal!
First and foremost, let's celebrate the love of God given to us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is rare, priceless, and alive!
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