4 Pictures and Word

“NO! Kevin, please don’t make me!” I grabbed his hand tighter and used my body weight to pull him away from the  center walkway. Shrieks of terror echoed in the mall hallway.

“Oh, come on. We’ve got to get you over your fear eventually.”

“Says who? Who says I can’t be afraid of mascots until the day I die?”

He shrugged, not worth the fight. Some other small child will have to sit in the Easter Bunny’s lap today.

What makes you think of Easter? Rabbit-filled pictures? or empty tombs?

What answer did you fill the blank with?

Christ? or Easter?

Do we have to pick a side? Or can this weekend and Sunday morning be filled with Easter bonnets, pastel colored shirts, and egg hunts?

I’m afraid that our celebration of Easter is much like the chocolate bunny in our baskets – hollow. Because the pictures above can either spell “Christ” or it can spell “Easter.” Even non-believers can decorate with shiny, brightly colored grass, white wicker baskets, and candy filled plastic eggs. But only a believer can focus on Christ.

My initial Easter blog intention was to give a lecture on the history of Easter. But in the course of these last 24 whirlwind hours, I have two questions rolling around my head.

1. Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?

 James 2:19 tells us, “You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe—and they shudder.”

This question is not an end all discussion on a person’s relationship with God? Yes, believing is important. But it’s not the end of the discussion like I once thought. Even demons, who are actively at work against God, have knowledge and belief of Him.

2. How does that change your life?

Believing God exists isn’t everything God desires; He desires a relationship with us. That’s the whole point of Easter. The first two humans sinned, which separated them from a holy and perfect God. Ever after that, something had to die in order to cover this inherited sin. Dove after dove. Calf after calf. Grain after grain. No sacrifice was permanent. But God didn’t give up on His people – God loves us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to walk this earth, be disowned by His people and executed. He was our sinless, perfect sacrifice that died in order for our sins to be forgiven. But don’t stop reading yet! Those were only the events leading up to Friday. Sunday is the day we picked in order to celebrate His resurrection. God raised Jesus back to life!

Why? Not just so that we would have an intellectual knowledge of Him, but so that we would have have a way to be in a right relationship with a holy God.

Chocolate bunnies melt; they satisfy for a fleeting moment. But knowing God and then changing your actions so that they glorify Him satisfies a soul for eternity.

Which will you spend more time celebrating this weekend? The Easter eggs that you dyed? Or the Christ that died and rose for our sins?

Maybe you haven’t stepped foot in a sanctuary since the last family member got married. Easter Sunday is a great day to return – to hear the truth of God’s love and to ask questions about how this impacts your life.

So you choose – what’s the answer to the picture at the top? Easter? or Christ?