Easter is a time most everyone enjoys. It is an especially fun holiday for children, as they get to go on Easter egg hunts, get brightly colored baskets filled with chocolate bunnies, and get a new outfit. The new outfit part is even fun for us older "kids." We all get together with our families and go to church. It is a fun time for everyone.
The sad thing is that too often we forget there is a much more important meaning behind this spring weekend.
It's not about the baskets, the chocolate, or the eggs. It's not about the new outfits, pictures with the guy in the bunny suit, or even spending time with family. It's not even about going to church, especially if that's the only Sunday you go in a year.
Easter is so much more than a weekend.
Easter is a lifetime worth of sacrifice. All of our lifetimes worth. It about the horrible torture and death Jesus faced on the cross. It's about his last moments being in excruciating pain and knowing he was going to die.
But it's also about the tomb being empty.
It's about him no longer being dead. It's about the unspeakable, the impossible, the unheard of happening. It's about him rising out of the tomb, out of this world, to be in the hearts of those who choose him, forevermore. It's about him making that ultimate sacrifice and paying the price for all of our sins.
This weekend is a time to remember the extreme sacrifice made on our behalf.
The only reason we can live the way we do today and not be persecuted and convicted. The reason we should be going to church every Sunday, and not just living the "Christian life" on this one day because it's tradition. The reason we should be focusing more on giving thanks than what we get in silly baskets.
Sure, the traditions are fun. Sure, they give kids something to look forward to. But don't let the bunny and the baskets overshadow the true reason for this Easter Sunday. Don't let schools being out on Friday overshadow the real reason it is Good Friday.
Enjoy your egg hunts, dying eggs, eating chocolate, and pictures. Enjoy your time with your families, your new outfits, and the baskets. However, remember the reason that this weekend is important.
Remember what sacrifice was made that allows you to live your everyday life.
Give the glory to the one who carried the cross for us all, and the one who is no longer in the tomb.
