Thank God above for this day. It is not just any Holiday, not really a gift giving Holiday, but on this day the greatest gift ever given to mankind became a reality! Jesus rose from the dead to give us victory over the grave and that is the best reality I could ever ask for! We make Easter baskets for our children and buy bunnies, and when my children were little I tried to teach them the difference between the gift's we give them and the one Jesus gave them. Our daughter was a capricous and sweet little girl, and our sons were more interested in playing kick the can instead of the Bible readings we tried to apply to their lives, not really listening but thinking about the games they'd play when I finally let them go out. So, imagine my surprise when Easter Sunday, when my daughter was about 4, I read to them about the significance of Easter and then I posed the question, "Who can tell me the meaning of Easter?" and our little girl's hand shot up as she bounced up and down with glee... "I can!" she chirped. Then she answered "Easter is when the Easter bunny killed Jesus!" I was stunned at first, then realized they were still too young to get it. I had given them too much information for their little brains to comprehend and I chuckled as I let them go outside to play.
This is a cute story, and while it makes perfect sense to a child, it is perhaps something to think about. What does Easter mean to you and your's? A day to hide eggs, and give Easter Baskets and candy eggs, or does it lighten your step to know that those you love will never be separated from you permanently when they pass beyond this reality? I remember my own Grandma always bought us Sees Easter Eggs with our names written on them and a cross and flowers on top. But she gave me something more than that. She went to church until she couldn't walk well enough to take the bus and she always trusted in God to take care of her. She lived a Christian life, and although she had a temper and said things she called being "honest", which were sometimes rude and hurtful, she none the less had a heart of gold and would always cry when she talked about the people in her life she had lost. A baby boy, at 9 months of age. Her other son at 43, and her daughter at 55. She had buried her Mother, Father, Husband, brothers and sisters and still she had the faith to believe that they were all with God and that she would see them again one day. That's what Easter is about. Faith, serving the Master day in and day out, regardless of the cost of losing those we love. Because she knew Him in her heart and He was always there for her to lean on.
This is truly a day of celebration and I just wanted to post that for me, Easter is the most important Holiday we have. The King of Kings rose, giving us reason to celebrate life and the fact that we can have it eternally. Life is busy, full of good times as well as bad. But at the close of the day, when you are full of good food and relaxing before bed with those you love, realize that not all days are happy ones. As our lives draw to a close, and the candle is just about out, we have reason to rejoice even though we must say goodbye, for a while, to those we love. Death comes to us all. It's how we live and what we have faith in that matters. I know, without a doubt, than when my eyes close on planet earth, my spiritual eyes will view the promised land and the spirit God gave me will be joined with God in paradise and all those I have lost will be there as well. It will be a glad reunion, and one that doesn't have to be dreaded, for we have a Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave his life and fulfilled the debt we all owe, that we might live forever in Heaven with the ones we love and that is truly worth celebrating.
Happy Easter one and all and I hope to continue with the good news that He Lives!
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