It's Saturday before Easter and the stores are full of people running around to get Easter eggs, candy, and the last minute food preparations. The aisle of chocolate bunnies and candies are trashed from grab and go. Easter baskets line the front of the store, enticing children to beg their parents for plastic toys and candy. So you wonder why on earth would I say that Easter is underrated.
Society has Easter down pat, they have it tied up with a pretty bow, with candy inside. It's a great distraction from the real meaning of Easter. The Easter bunny that delivers presents, chocolate versions of itself, and hides eggs for children gives an out to forget the real meaning. Some say Easter is a celebration of spring, of new life. How did we get so far from the truth?
My reasoning is simple, and perhaps it is because I have spent the last 40 days reading the story, over and over again. We past by Good Friday with a hello and how do you do, the world caught up in other issues. Today, is just another day, but tomorrow, oh tomorrow is the big day. The day when we get to eat all we want, when we get together and celebrate, as we should. It is a day to be celebrated, to rejoice in the hope and joy that we have.
Let's take Christmas for a moment, most all of us take time to remember the day that Jesus was born. We prepare for at least a month in advance, maybe even more buying presents for those we love. We decorate and celebrate, stores close, and for one day the world remembers. Easter, the day that Jesus rose from the dead, wiped out all our sins, became the way for us to reach heaven, and all this before He even knew us. His sacrifice on the cross was more than we could have ever asked for, and He did it. How can you not celebrate this day? It should be bigger than Christmas! Easter is the day that our lives were saved. We were redeemed, bought with a price, before we even knew what we were worth.
We all have different moments, when things finally click in our lives. This Easter I know it means more to me than ever before. I spent the last two weeks listening to songs to sing at our Friday night service and I thought about what I wanted to say, what message to get across. As I prepared Friday with the songs all ready, I wanted to wear mourning clothes, to portray the sadness of the day. Even today as I look at the sky, overcast with the threat of rain, it makes me think to that day. When the disciples knew their best friend, their hope, this amazing man was dead. Their Saturday must have been rough, they were still in mourning, there was no hope for them, everything that Jesus had showed them, was all for nothing. It must have been a day of agony, for the man who promised to change the world was gone.
This Easter morning there will be no baskets at my house. The Easter bunny will not be visiting, I do not object to this lovable character but I find him overrated. My kids are still young, so there will be Easter egg hunts, and candy, family, and dinner together. This Easter, we will remember the true meaning. The amazing gift that we have been given, the perfect man who died so we could have life. The joy and hope that comes with knowing, the story didn't end at the cross.
Society has Easter down pat, they have it tied up with a pretty bow, with candy inside. It's a great distraction from the real meaning of Easter. The Easter bunny that delivers presents, chocolate versions of itself, and hides eggs for children gives an out to forget the real meaning. Some say Easter is a celebration of spring, of new life. How did we get so far from the truth?
My reasoning is simple, and perhaps it is because I have spent the last 40 days reading the story, over and over again. We past by Good Friday with a hello and how do you do, the world caught up in other issues. Today, is just another day, but tomorrow, oh tomorrow is the big day. The day when we get to eat all we want, when we get together and celebrate, as we should. It is a day to be celebrated, to rejoice in the hope and joy that we have.
Let's take Christmas for a moment, most all of us take time to remember the day that Jesus was born. We prepare for at least a month in advance, maybe even more buying presents for those we love. We decorate and celebrate, stores close, and for one day the world remembers. Easter, the day that Jesus rose from the dead, wiped out all our sins, became the way for us to reach heaven, and all this before He even knew us. His sacrifice on the cross was more than we could have ever asked for, and He did it. How can you not celebrate this day? It should be bigger than Christmas! Easter is the day that our lives were saved. We were redeemed, bought with a price, before we even knew what we were worth.
We all have different moments, when things finally click in our lives. This Easter I know it means more to me than ever before. I spent the last two weeks listening to songs to sing at our Friday night service and I thought about what I wanted to say, what message to get across. As I prepared Friday with the songs all ready, I wanted to wear mourning clothes, to portray the sadness of the day. Even today as I look at the sky, overcast with the threat of rain, it makes me think to that day. When the disciples knew their best friend, their hope, this amazing man was dead. Their Saturday must have been rough, they were still in mourning, there was no hope for them, everything that Jesus had showed them, was all for nothing. It must have been a day of agony, for the man who promised to change the world was gone.
This Easter morning there will be no baskets at my house. The Easter bunny will not be visiting, I do not object to this lovable character but I find him overrated. My kids are still young, so there will be Easter egg hunts, and candy, family, and dinner together. This Easter, we will remember the true meaning. The amazing gift that we have been given, the perfect man who died so we could have life. The joy and hope that comes with knowing, the story didn't end at the cross.
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