It's still Easter!

The children’s story, Christmas Every Day, chronicles the saga of a little girl who asked Santa to make every day Christmas for a whole year. Santa Claus indulges her by making her dream of 365 days of candy and presents come true. Within a week, the little girl regrets her greed as her family and most others are impoverished by gift-giving and feel ill from gluttony. Everyone ends up cranky. Finally, the year ends, and so do the celebrations. Everyone dances with joy. Then the girl sticks her foot in the other ditch asking Santa to never, ever have another Christmas. This time the jolly old elf does not indulge her, and everyone lives happily ever after with an annual celebration.

I love holidays and traditions. Easter is my favorite for many reasons; warmer weather, spring flowers popping up, cheery pastel decorations, cute, cuddly animal decorations, and most of all, Christ’s victory over the grave. Now, I must wait again for the year to pass for Easter to come again. Or do I?

As a follower of Jesus, I can celebrate the resurrection every day. I don’t need egg decorating and hunts, sunrise services, or chocolate bunnies to appreciate Easter. Who needs a bunny when we have Jesus? Christ lives! And He lives in us.

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

The verse above implies we should remember Good Friday daily; the following passage encourages us to make every day a step-by-step resurrection celebration.

“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4

If we mindfully walked in the power of the Spirit Who raised Jesus from the dead, imagine the positive impact on the world around us.

In the sermon on the mount, Jesus told His disciples to let their light shine among men. He’s calling us to live out the Sonrise life with Holy Spirit power. Jesus invites us to Easter every day. And I don’t think He’d mind if we ate a chocolate egg or two. Better yet, sharing those leftover sweets wrapped in shiny, pastel foil may be enough to brighten up someone’s day.