I hope you all had a great Easter! We also had a great weekend celebrating the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We celebrated in the usual manner family, church, and food. But also did something that probably is not included in your usual Easter traditions.
Starting out on Saturday morning we continued a tradition that has been in our dorm the previous years. We pushed a van up a hill. Not just any hill but a hill that most people have trouble driving their cars on. This road is called Santana. There were 13 of us total that pushed and pushed that van up that hill. It took us 18 minutes and 40 seconds. Which is not too bad of a time. I am just glad that we finished and accomplished the task. There were times that I did not think we would finish. But the satisfaction of finishing was sweet.
Well after this task most of the boys went to the pool to cool off. Then we had lunch. Then we did something called messy games. Messy games has been a favorite of our youth group at Warrenville Bible Chapel. So we had to start a tradition of our own. We started out playing a version of hot potato. Instead of a potato we passed a squid. When the music stops and you have the squid you must pick something out of a garbage bag. Then we dump that item on your head and it gets spread around your body. The items included cooking oil, banana ketchup, molasses, peanut butter, soy sauce, flour, powder sugar, sardines in tomato sauce, canned dog food, tuna, vinegar, pork and beans, mountain dew, and coconut milk. At first the guys weren't really sure about this. But when we started they thought it was hilarious. It was quite a mess. The smells were quite alarming. Then we played another game that was balls of panty hoes filled with flour. Basically a free for all snow ball fight. There was a cloud of dust in the front yard. It was fun chasing each other around the yard throwing "snow balls" at each other. Then our last game was to see who could hit a fish the farthest with a tennis racket. This too was fun in a strange sort of way.
Then we all cleaned up and met for a devotion that tied in the day's activities. So how could these silly activities be tied in for a message. I told them that the activities reminded me of what Jesus did for us on the cross. When we pushed up the hill it was very challenging physically. We were exhausted and very sweaty. But the cross was far more physically exhausting for our Lord. He pleaded to God that He would not have to bear the cross. Jesus was whipped almost to death and then nailed and crucified to a cross. The messy games relates to the messiness of our sins. Our sins are detestable to God. They are repulsive to Him. Nevertheless Jesus took upon Himself the sins of the whole world on the cross. When we took our group picture the combing smells of everyone was repulsive. My own sins are repulsive but I can't even imagine how repulsive the sins of the world must have been for Jesus. "He who had no sin became sin for us". The wonder of it all is that Jesus did it just for you. Our sins are no longer our own because Jesus took them all away. The blood of Christ covers all of our sins. The current struggles that we have are not necessary because Jesus already died for those sins. Our sins are nailed to the cross and we bear them no more. Hallelujah what a Savior! Let us live the righteous life that we have been given through the cross of Christ.
