"Happy Easter"

Working in a secular daycare, I hear lots of conversations or comments that I wouldn't really hear working full time for the Church. That just happens, it really shouldn't come as any kind of surprise. They discuss the things they did Friday and Saturday nights, how they felt the following morning, what they drank, and plans for the future to do the same kinds of things. It happens all over, and it really does pull at my heartstrings, and lifting them up in prayer is a regular habit of mine.

But this post is about one specific comment that really made me think. I just barely heard it through all the excitement that was going on with children. A father had come to pick up one of his children and was getting ready to walk out the door when another guy I worked with called out after them "Have a Happy Easter!"

Now your thinking "Really Brandon? After bringing up the discusses of drunk weekends the 'Have a Happy Easter' comment got to you?" Now hear me out. This young man is not a Christian. He actually despises the thought of himself going to church. He grew up in a Catholic Church and not rebells against the things taught there. There are other things about him that I do not need to go into but let's leave it at the fact that He does not know Jesus. Yet he wished someone a "Happy Easter."

People talk about how our world has secularized Christmas. I would like to make the observation that it is not Christmas that has been the most secularized but rather Easter. You see Christmas still has a Christian meaning behind it. The reason people want us to wish each other "happy holidays" is because the word "Christmas" still has Christ tied to it. When most people think of Christmas, the story of Christ's birth comes to mind. However with Easter, I hardly see this "problem." I have never heard that we cannot wish others a "happy Easter." Instead of just tying it in with other holidays we have made it completely secularized. People don't think of the resurrection, nobody is offended by the saying. Why is that? Because Easter is about the Easter Bunny and getting candy and having a good time with family in friends. We have completely stripped Easter of the cross!

What a heartbreaking thing to do! God sent His Son into this world. Jesus lived the life God laid out for Him. He loved people, those who followed Him and even those who didn't. He came to restore the broken relationship between God and man. He loved us so much that He allowed Himself to be beaten and put to death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8). There really is no greater love than what our Savior showed us by dying on that cross (John 15:13)! Three days later He rose from the dead! He is alive!! What a wonderful story! The story of God's love for us, the story of the beginning of the reconciliation to God, and we have replaced it with a giant, egg hiding rabbit. What a tragedy.

This Easter let us truly take time to reflect on what our Savior has done! Let us read the story of the cross and the resurrection accounts. Before jumping into finding or painting eggs, let us take time out and pray a prayer of thanksgiving for what our Savior has done. Remember what Jesus has done and His great love for you and share it with those around you!!