What is Easter anyway? I know what you’re thinking. ‘Oh boy,Charlene, you’ve really bitten off more than you can chew this time!’ You are so right. Easter is way too vast a subject for a little blogger like me to tackle… but I just can’t help myself. It’s my blog and I’ll blog if I want to! Ha.
Okay… let’s start with the easy stuff. There’s the Easter Bunny, Easter eggs, Easter baskets, Easter candy, Easter egg hunts, Chocolate Bunnies, Peeps, Jelly Beans, Easter bonnets, Easter outfits, and Easter shoes. (Yes…you can bring out those white shoes again.)
Oh but there is so much more….
It might be possible to study for a lifetime and never read everything that has been written on the spiritual significance of Easter to the Christian faith. Suffice it to say that, in a nutshell, Easter is the single most important celebration for followers of Jesus Christ. Why? Because everything that we Christians believe, trust and hope for hinges on the historic event of Jesus Christ having been raised from the dead. If the resurrection didn’t happen, even Paul said that we should be pitied above all men! (I Corinthians15:19)
You might think it’s all poppycock, and you are free to do so. But if so, I have to think that there have been times when God has caused you to see his resurrection power and glory when you were just looking around.
Spring is that incredible time of the year when we witness resurrection all around us. The gray skies, brown grass, bare trees, cold, hard, unfriendly ground, and damp, dreary days are replaced with sunshine, blue skies, leafy, shade-trees, green grass, beautiful flowers, birds nesting and singing, and animals playing. It is mesmerizing to me, actually. I can’t get enough of it!
I don’t know how these glorious bursts of life can be witnessed without giving honor and praise to our creator. When I sit and observe the majesty of nature all around me I am compelled to worship the Creator and sustainer of life. And when I think of how gracious He is to us – even painting us a clear picture of the hope of resurrection through His creation, my faith is multiplied.
Just in case you want to study about the resurrection of Jesus Christ for yourself, there is a really good book out there by Lee Strobel called, The Case for the Resurrection: A First-Century Investigative Reporter Probes History's Pivotal Event. FYI, Lee Strobel was an atheist that set out to prove that this resurrection stuff was nonsense. The good news is that as you read his book, you also learn a lot about what the Bible has to say on the subject.
Happy Easter everyone!
He is risen!!!
