Resurrected Soul

Resurrected Soul

We probably know the Easter story. You know the one that many of us have heard over and over about how Jesus died on the cross and then arose on the third day. We've heard it, but do we realize what it means for us?

When we are baptized we hear the preacher say we leave our old self behind in the water. Through His death, Jesus has allowed us to become resurrected souls. He has given us the opportunity to die to our old selves and arise freed from the chains of the sins we have been carrying. He essentially washed us “white as snow” when He hung there on the cross. 

Dying to ourselves means leaving all of those sins behind, never to go back again. The sins die with the old self and remain in the waters of baptism. This doesn’t mean that we will be perfect, but we will no longer be living the sinful life that we were before. The Lord doesn’t expect us to be perfect, he knows we are human and that we are sinful by nature. He does expect us to love Him, faithfully, and when we do sin to be repentant. He wants to be a constant part of our lives. That way, when we mess up-and we will-we can go to Him and ask forgiveness. In Luke 9:23, the Lord says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Here he is telling us that we must continue to die to our sinful nature every single day and choose to follow Him instead of our own wants and needs. 

The world, and Satan, will try to lead us astray every single day. That is why we must remain ever watchful and diligent and devoted to Him. There are many shiny things to tempt us in the world, things that we may not even realize are leading us away from Him. When you step away and look at your day, ask yourself how many moments your thoughts were on God. You will easily be able to see if you are with Him or with the world.

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” 

Matthew 12:30