Easter

T his is Holy Week, concluding on Resurrection Sunday for those of Christian faith or Easter for the retailers.

Chocolate, easter bunnies, easter chicks, new dresses, suits, shoes, even a new hair cut for the little ones.

Perhaps attend a church service, participate in an easter egg hunt, make dyed eggs, then go to brunch and do not forget the obligatory photographs!

These were all activities I participated in and then when my wife and I had our four children, Easter was important.

Laurie, my wife, and sometimes I helped, would dye easter eggs, paint a special egg and have a great time hiding the eggs in and around our backyard.

Some years we hid so many eggs the kids failed to find them all and I would find them months later. Great memories, fun times!

But Easter, like other holidays, is now a major commercial event with larger and expensive baskets filled with toys, gadgets, candy, and what nots. Sad, but Easter today is different from Easter of years past. In fact, Easter is different than our twelve other national holidays. I am ok with this fact because I know the real purpose of Easter, for that fact, I know the real purpose and intent of our major American federal holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Inauguration Day (every four years after a presidential election), Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents Day, Columbus Day, Juneteenth Day, Veterans Day, and News Year Day!

The real purpose, intent, and history of each of these holidays are lost in the commercial push to buy, buy, and buy stuff, drink, and overeat. Usually, stuff does not last long, needs new batteries or simply wears out or loses its luster. I know Easter is not a national holiday – but for Christians, it should be!

For Christians, Easter marks the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave He was placed in on Good Friday – the day He died on the Cross.

Why do we celebrate Easter? We celebrate Easter, the Resurrection of Jesus because with His Resurrection, Christ conquered death, hell, and the grave (Revelation 1:8). Because Christ arose from the grave, I will too, so will you, so will each person who places their faith in Jesus Christ.

How does one place faith in Christ?

“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 9:9-10).

This hope is what separates Christians and Christianity from every other religion in the world. No other religion (faith) has the hope Christians have.

Some religions want us to perform certain rituals, sacrifices, pray a certain number of times, give a certain amount money (or all your money), reincarnate, deny ourselves of whatever they say to deny – other religions require certain physical acts, but Christ is different.

What does Jesus Christ want? He wants you! This is why He left heaven and came to earth, to live among us, teach us, show us the way, and pay the penalty for sin – which until He came to earth was unpaid and unpayable by any human. We owed a debt we could not pay. When Christ ascended back into heaven with His promise to return for us, He left us a special present – The Holy Spirit.

Jesus left us with three unique gifts.

Gifts of comfort and strength. The Holy Spirit always leads people to Christ. The Holy Spirit of God moves throughout our world, knows each human heart and will, and through events and times brings each person to an opportunity to acknowledge Christ.

The second unique comfort is The Holy Bible. The Holy Bible teaches about Christ and instructs us on how to live with our families, friends, and strangers. The Holy Bible always points people to Christ.

The third unique comfort is the Fellowship of other Believers (church). Make no mistake, the building we call a church is just a meeting place, the church are the people who meet in the meeting place. When the church serves itself, it has failed to understand and obey Christ. Christ served others, even in His death. Churches are to be outward focused, looking to whom they can serve, strengthen, and help them to thrive.

Enjoy Easter, eat some chocolate, enjoy the day, but remember, Easter is celebrating the great hope of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, not the easter bunny.

Clayton Adams, West Memphis, Arkansas.

Email: claytonpadamslll@gmail.com.

Clayton Adams

Time in the Word