Easter is just a few short days away. There are three kinds of people that come to Easter worship.
 

The first is “THE BELIEVER,” who is a faithful member. He understands that without Easter there is no hope in the world. Without Easter, Good Friday, Christmas, and all the other religious festivals are just that, “religious festivals.” The empty tomb, the resurrection is evidence that Jesus was indeed who he said he was: the Savior of all mankind. The one who was promised since mankind’s sin in the Garden. The one who the prophets talked about. The one who would pay the price for our sins. The believer comes because he knows that with Christ there is more, much more to life than the three score and ten years that we experience on this earth. Easter is the proof that through Christ’s death and resurrection we have FORGIVENESS, SALVATION, and ETERNAL LIFE. The BELIEVER knows that if he dies with Christ, if he has faith in Christ, then, when the time is right he shall RISE with Christ. The BELIEVER comes to celebrate our Lord’s victory over sin and death.
 

The second kind is, “THE SEARCHER.” Down deep, the SEARCHER wants to believe that the trip out to the cemetery is
not the end. She knows that something is missing in her life. She is SEARCHING for HOPE; some WORD which will lift
her up and let her know that there is indeed a God. A God that so loved the world that He gave His only son that
whoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. She wants to know that by believing in Christ,
that by living a Christ-like life she has a wonderful future. When she hears the story, she is moved. Some come back
because they opened their hearts to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit filled them with hope. Some do not come back.
They go elsewhere continuing to SEARCH for that Word of Hope.
 

The third kind is “THE YEARLING.” Several years ago a man asked me to join a secret, fraternal organization. I replied
by saying, “I’m not into meetings.” He replied, “You only have to come to one meeting a year.” I saw no reason to join an
organization that said you only had to show up once a year to be a member. THE YEARLING attends because he wants
to please mom, wants a place for his kids to be married, his grandkids to be baptized, and a place to have a funeral
when he “shuffles off this mortal coil.” The sad truth is that the YEARLING is only fooling himself and no one else.
As we come face to face with Easter 2022, the question is, “Am I the BELIVER, the SEARCHER, or the YEARLING?”
 

Veritas - Curt