Let’s prepare our hearts together during this season leading up to Easter and beyond. The events of over 2000 years ago still reverberate through our bones and bodies today. The death and resurrection of Jesus is the most powerful, world-shaping reality in history, and we still find the truth transported into our everyday lives. It’s up to us to remember, reflect, and abide in the everyday, glorious consequences of Christ’s love for us, revealed through his humility and power, the crisis and the overcoming, the despair, and the overflowing joy. He has died and he has risen indeed, and that changes everything—even the small parts of our daily life. As we prepare our hearts, this devotional invites you on the journey of Lent and Easter through the different stages of the emotional journey and theological truth of death, life, and everything between.
Easter in the Everyday is divided into three frames, each representing a different emotional reality along the Easter journey. The first frame leads us through the time in the church calendar called Lent, where we will confront the humility of our humanness, examine the limitations of our fleshly state, and embrace the call to sacrificial living, fasting, and self-denial. The second frame will take us through Holy Week and prepare us for Easter, leaning in the anticipation of hope. Finally, we will immerse ourselves in the turbulence and intensity of Jesus’ betrayal, crucifixion, resurrection, and reunion. Through this journey, love and awe have overcome the sting of sorrow and death on the eternal stage, as well as in our small lives that will one day be caught up in glory.
This article is part of Easter in the Everyday, a devotional to help individuals, small groups, and families journey through the Lent & Easter season. Learn more about this special issue here!