Easter Island. That is the name I have chosen to give the new land that adventurers discover upon receiving the Easter message. I have chosen to use the metaphor of travel and adventure and landscape because it vividly portrays the change of scenery which takes place in the mind, heart, emotions, desires, and pursuits of those who come to know the living God. Prior to accepting that Jesus is indeed The Way, The Truth, and The Life, travelers can at best choose one of many conflicting trails which lead to frustration, emptiness, deceit, cravings, and even madness. The brokenness of a life apart from God is one that is doomed to a course charted for unending high seas, motion sickness, blistering storms, and no sight of landfall. The hopelessness and fatigue which stems from such a life is enough to drive one over the edge. The message of Easter offers explorers a map that leads to great riches, discoveries untold, and views unlike anything that has been seen before. These riches are riches of the spirit; grace, mercy, passion for truth and goodness, joy, peace, a life of meaning and purpose, and an eternal abode. The discoveries are finds which the heart and mind had not known to exist; depth in relationships, patience, strength amidst the storms of life, direction for the road ahead, purpose for one’s climb, and the will and desire to forgive and bless. The views, oh the views, are sights beyond imagination; cascading waterfalls of joy, the refreshing mist of salvation, the foliage and textures of spiritual insight, the mountains of mercy, and the canopy of undeserved blessing and grace. What we fail to realize as we attempt to navigate life without Christ as our travel guide and travel companion is that the journey falls indescribably short of what it could and should be. The journey of life is given its fullness as we come to know, experience and live in the reality of Amazing Grace. He is the Grace of life. He is the Amazing in a life filled with mundane. Apart from walking with Him we miss, we cannot even comprehend, what life can be like. Relational difficulties, illness, injustice, deception, failure, and all the darkness of life have no redemption apart from the Redeemer. Even the detours, potholes, roadblocks, and crashes find a sense of purpose and adventure with Jesus as our Leader of the Expedition. He reframes every scene. My prayer for you, myself, and all others is that this Easter experience is one that calls us to make the reservation for a flight which will change our lives for all eternity. Indeed, as we embrace the Creator, and accept His gift of life in Christ, we find the very purpose and passion of our lives. We were created for Him, find ourselves in Him, and see all of life through His eyes as we accept Jesus into our lives. To be joined to Christ is to be freed from the tyranny of blindness, and to be given a High Definition view of what life is meant to be. May we embrace Him today, along every roadway and trail, and may we sail with Him and happen upon all the islands of grace He has in store for us. Bruce Smithoptimuslife.org