Another Christian holiday, another day for Christians to tear apart.
Has anyone else noticed the barrage of anti-Easter posts on Facebook coming from Christians? Well meaning individuals are telling us not to celebrate Easter, as it is a holiday to Ishtar the fertility god.
True, when Constantine Christianized the empire, he did merge many of the pagan holidays with Christian events to create many of the holidays we now celebrate. But does it really matter where the roots come from? What happened to God taking things that were evil and making them good? After all, isn’t that what happens when we become saved?
Here’s a question for you: when you think of Easter, what comes to mind? I would wager that 99% of you reading (since this is a Christian post) would reply the resurrection of Christ. The others would say Easter bunny, Easter egg hunts, spring fashion and such. I don’t expect anyone to think Ishtar (unless you’ve been on Facebook and had that slammed in your face for weeks). Why are we letting Facebook take away one of our most sacred holidays?
So, come Sunday, go ahead and celebrate the Risen King. He deserves his own holiday.
So, I imagine a lot of you or thinking “But what about the Easter Bunny? What about Easter baskets? If we are Christians, should we be using them?” Once again, I say “Why not? Who says you can’t make them Christian?”
The Easter basket – talk to your kids about the miracles of Jesus, proving he was God. How about the loaves and fishes and how He filled 12 baskets with the leftovers?
Easter eggs – ever notice how eggs have 3 parts? They co-exist to make the egg functional. It’s a picture of the trinity. Taking it farther: the eggshell represents the God Head and the God the Old Testament show us. Peel the egg: Now we see Jesus who was revealed to us in the New Testament. Dig farther and find the yolk: this represents the Holy Spirit who came to us after Jesus returned to heaven.
The Easter Bunny – ok, this one’s a bit trickier, but why can’t the Easter Bunny represent the Church? Remember in the early days of the church when the word was being rapidly spread throughout the known world? Christianity was “spreading like rabbits” back then! Aren’t we called to also spread the word?
Jelly Beans – Check out this poem I found online. These and many more are just a click away. Read a jelly bean poem to your kids as they enjoy these tasty treats!
Resurrection Eggs – google this. The idea is to fill an egg cartoon with plastic eggs. Inside each is a symbol of Holy week. If you can’t find the items, print out the words on paper to put in the eggs. The last egg is empty, signifying the empty tomb. This link will show how to make resurrection eggs and has printables for an Easter story book you can make at home https://lifeyourway.net/diy-ressurection-eggs-easter-story-book-printables/
So, what do you say, Peeps? Let’s take back this Holy Day and give it the glory it deserves!
The Reluctant Firefly 