Here it comes; the big day! Easter is this weekend and the stores are filled with people rushing to find items for their kids’ Easter baskets. There are toys, plastic eggs, Peeps, candy eggs, jellybeans, and that green plastic grass. Then it is time to hardboil the eggs and color them. Hams and all the trimmings are being prepared, or if you are like us, brunch reservations have been made.
Easter Sunday is the day we dress up a little more for church. When we were little, we would have new dresses, little gloves, and sometimes an Easter hat with a pretty ribbon on it. We also usually got a pair of new shoes and socks. Our brother wore a little suit with a little tie, with some product in his hair to make it look special. It was a special day with a big celebration. “Celebrating all things new”, my mom always told us.
These days, at least in our area of the country, many people come to church in casual clothes every Sunday, such as jeans, shorts, sandals and t-shirts. Most of them will put a little more effort into dressing for this celebration, however. The choir/worship team have spent weeks planning out and rehearsing for the triumphant songs we will enjoy that day. Little girls will come to Sunday School with their perfect little dresses and the little boys will many times wear cute little outfits as well. It is Easter in America!
The most meaningful things for me about Easter is that we are celebrating that Jesus didn’t stay on the cross, but arose from the tomb; no longer dead. Wow! That is just such a miracle and the basis of my faith!
We all know the story of His suffering on the cross and most of us know the impact of that. I personally don’t feel the need to physically keep rehashing that event or watching accounts of it on t.v. I get it deep in my soul. I choose to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and the hope and joy that gives to our hurting world. “Hope” is our ministry word for Robyn B Ministries and that is because of his death AND resurrection. My entire identity lies in this.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade…” I Peter 1:3-4
Now, THAT is something to celebrate this Sunday and every single day of the year! Happy Easter to all of you, no matter how you choose to celebrate it. Take a moment to be grateful for the sacrifice Jesus made for you on the cross, but then rejoice because on the third day, He rose for you to give you life everlasting! Hallelujah!