Easter Hangover
Egg hunts. Bunnies. Crosses. Nails. Family. Candy. Lilies. There are some traditions about Easter that are good, but there are others that leave us exhausted. A few of our traditions also often distract us from the main reason we celebrate Easter. Think about it; we are celebrating Jesus Christ, not an American festival known by a word possibly coming from the name of an Old English goddess.
Many of the symbols and traditions involved during Easter have lost their original meaning and therefore seem irrelevant. It can leave someone, especially with small children, feeling like the holiday is just another capitalistic scheme for businesses to make money. I can’t speak for Christ on how He feels about the Easter bunny and all the candy, but I know what He desires for all of us to take away from the weekend. He wants a relationship that goes beyond an annual family picnic/Sunday best/egg hunt.
Christ desires for us to love Him and center our lives on Him beyond anyone or anything else. He wants us to pursue Him with all our energy and realize that He is pursuing us relentlessly. He then wants us to love people around us with a sacrificial pursuit. He wants us to serve people even if we don’t feel like it and not at all because they deserve it. If we are not more passionate about Christ and loving others after Easter weekend, then something is wrong.
The good news is that we don’t have to wait another year to accomplish what Easter is all about. It is never too late to reconcile with God and put your agenda aside to give back to people when they least expect it. This is what we see in the life of Christ. He was in a constant state of unity with God and awareness of the needs of people around Him. Because He lived that way and died for us to be raised from the dead, we can live that lifestyle too.
Do you feel overwhelmed by your burdens and mishaps? Do you feel a little too focused on your own life? Take a minute and ask God to make Himself known to you. Ask Him to use you to make a difference in someone else’s life. He suffered on the cross to answer that prayer. He desires to meet you where you are at and transform you to bring healing to a hurting world. I encourage you to say like Jesus Christ in His most pressing moments, “thy will be done” and “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” He will help you to be able to say that and mean it from the soul. Ask Him now!