Holidays are interesting. They fill our hardwired desire to celebrate/commemmorate important events. And like anything else, these good desires can be twisted into some messed up stuff. Like St. Patrick's day- who REALLY knows who he was? To many people the holiday's just an excuse to get drunk on green beer. Or here's a big one- Valentine's day. It's a great idea- encourage men to consolidate all of their affection on their wife/girlfriend into one day, and create an expectation for women to receive something expensive. Anyone else see the problems with that one? Every day should be a "valentine's day" in marriage. And that is something that I am one of the biggest idiots about sometimes, but that's for another post.
But what about Easter? People are divided about it. Some choose to give gifts to their kids and say that they were from the Easter bunny and make it a fun holiday for their kids. Some choose not to celebrate Easter at all because of its pagan origins, choosing to split hairs. The third group of people choose to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus and the hope it brings for the world. I could be cliche and say that the best gift to give your kids is the resurrection message. Just did, as a matter of fact.
But seriously, what are we really celebrating? Do we take the resurrection lightly? Are we living each day in light of this? In a world where emotional circumstances are validated above absolute truth and so many things competing for our attention crowd out God's still small voice, it's so important to never get over what Jesus has done for us. His scars PROVE his love for us!
Celebrate Easter tomorrow, but be REAL about it! God forgive those of us who have become complacent, myself included.
I'm so excited about teaching this tomorrow- the message of the Resurrection is one of those things that if it becomes personal, than someone's eternity will be affected for the glory of God!
1 comment:
Don't know if you ever check these comments....
Here's an Easter "eggsperiment" for you (I wrote this in my newsletter article this month):
An Easter Lesson….
My family is reading a devotional book by Josh MacDowell. It is geared for families with older children, and is very relevant. Here is a great object lesson to show your kids the gift we have been given with Jesus’ death and resurrection.
You will need:
1 egg
A hammer
A piece of wood
An empty can (big enough to fit over the egg – hide this until the appropriate time)
Explain what sin is – anything we do that goes against what God says (can be thoughts or words or actions). Explain that we are all sinners, and that the punishment for sin is death – eternal separation from God. We are like the egg, and the hammer is like God’s punishment for our sins – what will happen? Now bring out the can and put it over the egg. This represents Jesus – he took the punishment for our sins so we don’t have to. Hit the can with the hammer, then show them the egg. Hopefully the dents in the can will demonstrate to them how much Jesus took on Himself to protect us from God's just punishment....
Post a Comment