Resurrection day!

As this year keeps on rolling forward we come to another holiday, the most glorious day for those who follow Christ! I love this holiday, but what people have made it saddens me. So many people call it Easter, not Resurrection Day. Yes, people will go to church and worship, but even the saved put so much into this holiday that takes away from what this day is about.

I did my research and found that the Easter Egg actually has a meaning that ties with Jesus; it symbolizes the empty tomb and the joy in finding the eggs is like the joy of the women who found that Jesus had risen. Eggs also symbolize new life and that is very fitting in that Jesus died so that we may live, but it seems to me we have let the whole egg thing go wayyyyy out of proportion with egg hunts of 30,000 hidden eggs, door prizes and all kinds of cartoon baskets.   

Then I looked for information about the Easter Bunny. I have always wondered how he got into the holiday. Apparently he is from folktale and a way to get kids to be good. If you were a good kid the Easter Bunny would leave you colored eggs. While the thought behind it is nice and you want to encourage your kids to be good, it has nothing to do with Jesus dying on the cross for our sins then rising on the third day so that we may have eternal life with Him!

What saddens me most though is how so many Christians go around saying Easter instead of Resurrection Day. The word Easter is the name of the goddess of fertility. Her name means to shine and the east. There is a holiday celebrating her at the beginning of Spring. Since the celebration of Christ's rising was around the same time/month for the pagans Easter celebration they agreed to keep the name Easter for the holiday. That was a compromise and we as Christians have no business using the name of a goddess on a day for rejoicing with our Savior!

 Do not be unequally bound together with unbelievers [do not make mismatched alliances with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14

The beauty of God sending Jesus to save us from death is awesome! We don't need to water it down with candy, bunnies, and egg hunts. Enjoy Sunday with your family by worshiping together, at church or home. Fellowship with one another while enjoying your family meal. Really, every day should be a day to celebrate what Jesus came to earth to do for us; however on this special day let us praise Him all the more and share what He has done for us. 

I pray that you all have a happy Resurrection Day!

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women went to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared [to finish anointing the body]. 2 And they found the [large, circular] stone rolled back from the tomb, 3 but when they went inside, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed and wondering about this, suddenly, two men in dazzling clothing stood near them; 5 and as the women were terrified and were bowing their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why are you looking for the living One among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee, 7 saying that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise [from death to life].” 8 And they remembered His words, 9 and after returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven [apostles] and to all the rest.

Luke 24:1-9