Millard Fuller was a millionaire by the age of twenty nine. As such, he could buy his wife everything he thought she could possibly want. But one day he came home to discover that she had left him. Millard caught up with Linda on a Saturday night in a hotel in New York City. Into the late hours of the night she poured out her heart to him. She wasn’t interested in the things that he was buying her. Linda explained that her spirit and heart were empty. She felt dead inside and wanted to live again. Kneeling in prayer to God that night in the hotel room, Millard and Linda dedicated themselves to serving the poor and the oppressed. Habitat for Humanity was born. The Fullers were not just giving up the things money could buy but a previous way of life that was killing them.
Jesus rose physically from the dead to give everlasting life to our dying bodies. We celebrate the fact that life has triumphed over death, light has consumed the darkness. Mentally we can come to Easter and somewhat grasp the glory of it all and yet deep inside feel empty and tired. The promise to live again is a life story for every day. Jesus, through His resurrection, has not only opened the way to everlasting life but released the hope that new life can begin fresh at every dawn. We are no longer bound to the tyranny of the past. The power of the resurrected life of Christ can transform us anew at daybreak. Jesus has risen indeed and raised us with him. May the fullness of the Easter joy empower you each day with a vision for new beginnings.
