When I was little Easter was one of my least favorite holidays. The idea of wearing a frilly white dress with itchy white tights and uncomfortable shoes made the entire day seem horrible. I’d always gone to church since I was little so that wasn’t any different, but that outfit made everything so much worse. And so when I was little that’s what I focused on. I focused on my uncomfortable dress, winning the Easter egg hunts, and eating a formal lunch with all my relatives.
That was Easter for me for most of my life. Going through the motions because that’s what we did on Easter that’s how good Christian girls acted. I was more caught up in what I had to do than what was done for me.
And I think this same routine can infect our attitudes today as young Christian women.
I’m hosting my families Easter lunch this year and so excited to do it. I love the planning, the organizing, and the decorating, but it’s easy for me to fall into that same trap that I fell into as a young girl. I’m focusing on all of the planning and preparing that goes into Easter lunch without actually preparing for Easter.
Because who am I doing all this preparation for? Am I doing it for myself so that I will get complimented or am I doing all this for the one that we are celebrating?
Am I reminding myself of the truths that we are celebrating? Am I reading the passages about Jesus’ resurrection? Am I reminding myself why He needed to die in the first place?
And of course I’m not saying decorating and food preparations are a bad thing because of course, they’re not. None of the things that I’ve focused on in the past are inherently bad. At our church, we’ve been going through the book of Ecclesiastes and the perspective that this book brings into your life is amazing. Because everywhere in Ecclesiastes Solomon reminds you of how temporary this life is, but he also says that we should enjoy this life. God never called us to live a sad, melancholy life. He has given us joy and happiness and contentment.
So while you’re decorating and preparing food start preparing your heart for Easter. And there are so many ways you can do this. Everything from prayer to singing to listening to sermons on the resurrection can be tools that God uses to prepare your heart for Easter. Because when we go into Easter prepared we can be lights to our unbelieving family members. We can show why we celebrate Easter. It’s not because we are supposed to, it’s not for the candy in our Easter baskets, it’s for Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and their sins. Because we all needed Jesus’ sacrifice.
Instead of a stressful day, we can instead celebrate Easter with joy. Because we are saved; saved by our God who loves us and who died for us.
And so as lights in this dark world let us treat Easter as a day that affects our entire lives. A day that shows our gracious God even to this dark world. The world tries to distract us with candy and the Easter bunny because the truth of Easter is dangerous to Satan. In fact, it destroys Him.
So ladies let’s remind the world of what Easter truly is. Let’s celebrate our resurrected Savior.
Here are some verses that I’ve found particularly impactful about why we celebrate Easter. Take a minute to read and reflect on these passages.
“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” [efn_note]Luke 24:1-7[/efn_note]
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you…In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;” [efn_note]1 Peter 1:3-7[/efn_note]
“…who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?… But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” [efn_note]Romans 8:34-35,37[/efn_note]
Redeemed by the King
Photo by Sweet Amaryllis on Unsplash
My Redeemed Life 