Resurrecting spring time

For those who like fresh starts, spring is the perfect season. As spring cleaning is a big part of peoples homes, it also becomes a big part of my lifestyle. The change from cold, gloomy winter to blooming, sunny, spring always gets me excited about the changes that I want to make in my life. So not only do I throw out my old clothes, and hide the winter sweaters, I also get rid of my old destructive habits, and start the season with a fresh, dust free, new slate. For me its a time of renewal and cleansing; old Vika has to go. And as people start to focus on their summer body, with that, I start to work on my soul. I think God has specific purposes for each season, and the more I focus on "spring cleaning" and becoming a better person, the more I realize that He couldn't have picked a better season for us to celebrate Easter. Before realizing this, I started to wonder why the holiday is even called Easter,  it seemed so random. Google cleared things up for me a bit. Easter derived from the old English word "Eastrun," which in definition is the same as the word "Pasch." Which in latin is :Pascha" and in Greek Paskha. (Now we know where our Slavic language got their name from.)  Paskha or "Passover" was first celebrated when the Jews were freed from their slavery in Egypt. They had to sacrifice a pure baby lamb to give glory to God for their freedom.  How amazing is it that we no longer have to do that. Because when Christ died on the cross he became the ultimate sacrifice, the lamb slain for all. Now we are freed from our slavery to sin! And not only that, we are also given new life. Today the modern english definition, or meaning of Easter is, "Resurrection Sunday." To me, the name means new chances everyday, an opportunity to be better, a reason to live, as well as a fresh new start.Our resurrection was when we first accepted Christ into our lives.  He raised us from our deadly old life into a new one with the promise of eternity. We died with Christ as he died on the cross, we are washed of our sins with His blood, and then with Him we resurrect into new life; into the promise of eternity with Him in heaven.

The celebration of Easter is Gods gift to those who know Him. He gives us this incredible opportunity to walk in the shoes of Christ through His heroic journey. As we take part in communion we remember the sacrifice, we remember his love for us. Three days later, on Easter Sunday we rejoice in the truth of our salvation and in the fact that we are given new life. There's such a closeness that derives from this process, an intimacy with Christ like no other, and  Christians tend to underestimate this opportunity. My hope is that we could all dedicate this week to walking with Christ, and to letting him "spring clean" our hearts.  Lets put aside the busyness of life, the dusty old habits of this world, and just enjoy this blessed holiday. Lets celebrate our resurrection in Christ, lets find joy in the spring time, and lets use this opportunity to examine our lives and remember that if it weren't the precious gift of Christs love, we would no longer have a reason to wake up every morning.