I started writing this on Easter but now it is several days later. The weekend was my wife's birthday so we celebrated that and Easter and a bunch of other things to do, so time is not been available to write. I woke up way before I needed to today and knew God wanted some time with me. It has been a while. So, the only thing I have to write about is the whole phenomena called Easter weekend, from Good Friday to Easter Sunday.
My first question, did Jesus specifically call us to forever remember and celebrate His death and resurrection? I don't believe He did. The reason for that is, celebrations, feasts, and seasons can all be turned into religious practices. Which means, it can become a program filled with egg hunts, sunrise services, dinners, and the whole Easter traditions but the hearts of those that celebrate can be far away from God. A pagan can celebrate Easter. Anyone can. It isn't an exclusive club where they check your ID at the door. Sorry you don't have your Christian card, your not aloud to celebrate. Nope, that doesn't happen. In fact, many people celebrate Easter through a rabbit and egg hiding, which is the furthest away from our Lord hanging on a cross as it gets.
So, anyone can celebrate it but those that are fully surrendered to God celebrate Him everyday, not just twice a year, birth and death. We ought to celebrate our relationship with Him each morning as we get up. We ought to walk each minute in celebration for those moments He sacrificed Himself for us but we should put it into perspective. The perspective is now not then. We have a habit of celebrating Jesus for what He did over 2,000 years ago. We take His life and put it on a pedestal and worship what He accomplished then. What about now though. Can we not stop celebrating the past to enjoy the relationship we have now with Him?
If we constantly told our spouse how lovely they were at your wedding every year on your anniversary, wouldn't the relationship suffer. If you constantly relived your day of marriage and held it in a higher esteem than being with them today, a divorce may be in order. Yes anniversaries are good to have but let them celebrate today and not the day of. Jesus is moving today. He is active today. He saves today. Why then must we look back twice a year and celebrate what happened instead of what is happening.
Easter is a celebration of death, burial and resurrection and without that, we have nothing. So it is a good thing to understand and to know but to rehash the events throughout the church worldwide each and every year is a bit extreme. I appreciate what happened on the cross but I'm not reenacting it so I can appreciate it. I'm not going to play it out over and over each year in plays. If we keep our minds in the past, we can never move forward in Him.
I think that a lot of people think of Christ as a Biblical hero, set on a page, for us to remember. As such, they tend to think of Him in a far off place, out there somewhere in space. It keeps Jesus as an impersonal deity looking down from above. Even Jesus said, we, meaning Him and the Father, would make their home in us for those who believed and obeyed. Is it so hard to believe that. For some, holding them at a distance affords them the ability to live their lives how they want to. For others, they feel condemned by their actions and how they conduct their lives. So, instead of getting personal, lets keep them at a distance. Instead of sacrificing ourselves and seeing ourselves on the cross, lets celebrate Him on their instead.
Christ did say, pick up your cross and follow me, did He not. So if we continue to focus on Him up their on the cross, then we don't have to see us up their. I die daily, said Paul. Meaning He sacrificed His wants and His needs for the gospel of Christ. Can we say the same. I know I can't. I know I can't say my preferences come last or never come at all. I can't say God is first in all my ways. Which is why I write. It helps me focus and get myself back on that cross, at least the side of me that needs to be up there, which is the flesh.
To me, Easter is just another day. Did not God say He hates our feast days and our celebrations due to the lack of repentance. Israel was n big trouble for not taking care of its poor and widowed. They cheated, stole and raised money up higher than they did God. They did the sacrifices out of a religious duty instead of reverence for God. They made it into a hollow gesture and because of it, God said, I hate your sacrifices and your feasts. It was their hearts that turned from righteousness and did evil continually even though they still did what was required by law.
Some Christians today feel obligated to attend Easter services, even when they don't attend regularly. They live lives completely for themselves then expect to claim the blood every Easter. God is love and He hates iniquity. The blood is there to get us back to Him. It like we were on one side of a deep canyon and God was on the other. We could see His side and worship from a distance but we couldn't be where He was or He couldn't be where we were. So, Jesus built a bridge across the expanse so we can walk across and be with the Father. Yet for some, they still stand on this side and use the same old festivals to worship Him from a distance.
I don't get it sometimes. I don't get why some just don't want to have a personal relationship with Him. Is it too hard to admit fault? Is it too hard to see their need? Is it too hard to believe He love them? Is it too hard to see beyond the lies? I don't know, all I know is He is there, like a ripe fruit waiting to be picked and eaten. Let His love overwhelm you and cleanse you of all the stuff keeping you from knowing Him fully.
To God be the Glory!
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