All the excitement towards Easter is done for the year. Can you believe it?
The egg hunts are over, the big worship celebrations at church are finished, and the festive Sunday dinner has been reduced to leftovers in Gladware. All of the joy focused on new life, salvation, and the resurrection has been turned down a bit.
So, now what? Baseball season? Graduation? Prep for the Fourth of July?
Is there any way to keep the beauty and celebration of Easter going year-round?
Here are 5 simple things to celebrate the joy of Easter year-round:
1 • Look for Easter eggs every day.
The scriptures say “Your mercies are new every morning” so look for them. Most of us have PhD’s in finding the negative, what if we went on a hunt each day for the goodness of God. From a new tree we notice on the way to work, to a friendly barista, to a new employee you can encourage.
There are new ways to celebrate God’s mercy every day.
2 • Have Easter dinner once a week.
Calm down, not a huge ham and deviled eggs.
In our church tradition we take communion once a week. I like the fact that no matter what our subject matter is that day, we always have a chance to remember Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.
This is why attending church is so important. You get to join in on a “family meal” that has been celebrated for roughly 2000 years. Maybe your church tradition is to do this once a month or quarterly, if so, you may consider doing this weekly at home with your family.
3 • Eat more chocolate!
Now you’re interested! For some reason we eat a lot of Easter candy the week of Easter… From Peeps, to Cadbury Eggs, to my personal favorite: the Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg.
So, continue the basket giving mentality of giving random baskets of chocolate to people, as a random act of kindness. I promise it will spread joy.
… And go ahead and make it dark chocolate if you are worried about being health conscious.
4 • Sing in the shower.
Find a couple of songs that celebrate the new life Jesus gives and sing them when you shower. This will set your day off on the right track.
Here are a few of my current favorites: “Graves into Gardens” by Elevation Worship, “Death Was Arrested” by North Point InsideOut, & “Living Hope” by Phil Wickham.
5 • Open the tomb of your mind.
Sounds goofy, I know. But our minds can go to some dark places of isolation, fear, anxiety and shame. So let God roll back the stone and shed some light into your soul. Memorize some of these verses and repeat them during the day:
John 11:25-26: “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?'”
1 Peter 1:3: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
1 Corinthians 15:21: “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.”
Philippians 3:10: “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”
Romans 8:34: “Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
Romans 6:8-11:”The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Friends, Easter is just too good to just be once a year. It is the EVENT that defines our faith!
Love to hear your ideas on how to keep it going. DM me @rustylgeorge
Your Pastor,
Rusty George
