A Choice

My devotional today has a good lesson today about making choices. I thought I'd share that today, as it is very appropriate for the Easter holiday.

So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." John 20:25

This verse is after Jesus has risen, and all the disciples except for Thomas have seen their Lord, alive and well. Here, Thomas has made the choice to be doubtful. Rather than choose to believe in the Lord he has come to know and love, he chooses to remain doubtful and wills himself to doubt the appearance of Jesus. When he sees Jesus, this is what Jesus says to him:

Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." John 20:27

Jesus appealed to Thomas's will, and he believed after that. And then later on, before Jesus ascends to Heaven,

"When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted." Matthew 28:17

Doubt is a choice. Choosing to believe in the Resurrection leads to joy, peace, and the experience of knowing and loving Christ. This living Christ is the biggest reason we share our faith with others- we want them to experience what we experience- the joy and the everlasting life in his presence. People in general tend to be suspicious by nature though, they think there should be strings attached. They want hard evidence and hard facts. The enemies of Christ choose not to believe. They choose to create confusion and deny his resurrection. His enemies are those who even today, are finding tombs and claiming that they have proof that Jesus was a man and not a God.

Yet Jesus was a man! And he is a God! No other religion can claim that their God became a man to be with them for a time, to experience life as a man, and then died for all men. And then after that death- rose again! Death is not a state that can be simply overcome. There can be no greater miracle than that of death being overcome. And we to can choose to overcome death. We can choose to believe in the resurrection and the Beautiful Savior who made life eternal possible for us. Believing or not believing is a choice that each person makes for themselves. How could anyone not choose joy. And love. And peace. And eternal life! Thank you Jesus for dying for me so that I might live forever in your holy presence! Thank you for showing us the miracle of life after death. And thank you for loving me!

Happy Easter!