Easter celebrations!

Easter is coming!

We are approaching the long weekend, where the chocolate and hot cross buns will be flowing. There are lots of treasure hunts and bunnies with Easter eggs running around.

This is a period of the Christian religion which is crucial to everything we believe in and it has also been commercialized in order to make money out of everyone. Stand back and appreciate it without falling for the commercial hype!

The true meaning of Easter has been taken away and replaced by things the people know we would love, like fluffy bunnies, chocolate and egg hunts with the children.

While I am not against this in any way, shape or form, I do believe that we should sit back and remember the true meaning around Easter.

At the beginning, it was a pagan ritual celebrating rebirth and renewal as spring came around. Later it became a period that Christians celebrate as Pentecost usually ends in March or April. So the two were being celebrated at the same time, and this became the Easter celebrations.

The meaning of Easter also symbolizes the complete verification of all that Jesus preached and taught during His three-year ministry. If He had not risen from the dead, if He had merely died and not been resurrected, He would have been considered just another teacher or Rabbi. However, His resurrection changed all that and gave final and irrefutable proof that He was really the Son of God and that He had conquered death once and for all. (Excerpt from http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/)

Popular traditions are going to church for the 2 days, Easter eggs and the bunnies, I have also added the origin for you below courtesy of http://www.houstiniaonline.com/.

One popular tradition is the painting of Easter eggs.

Eggs were forbidden during Lent in medieval Europe, so any laid in that time were preserved, usually by boiling. When Easter would finally come, eggs played a big role in the feast, and soon evolved into decorated and styled gifts.

Many ancient cultures also found eggs to be a sign of new life, symbolic of Christ's rebirth.

Much like Easter eggs, another figure often acquainted with the holiday is the Easter Bunny.

The rabbit, which symbolizes fertility, was introduced to Easter lore in Germany. A story of an "Easter hare" who laid eggs for children to find was shared in the country.

People would bake cakes, shaped like rabbits, which may have started the practice of making chocolate bunnies and eggs. The tradition was spread by German immigrants on their way to America.

And, the traditions of Easter Sunday, now centuries old, are still practiced today, and many Christians believe that what the holiday stands for should be discussed year round.

"The gravity of what Easter is supposed to be about is a lifestyle, it's not something you should seek to do one day a year," Basker said. "You don't have to wait for one day to be thankful. People shouldn't feel confined by the day. Don't let the day define you, define the day."

Jesus Christ sacrificed living like a prince to come to earth, to live among us, to experience trials like a human. To be treated in the worst manner, to be insulted and severely abused, so mutilated that He was not recognizable as a man. To be hung and nailed to a cross because he so loved each of us. He was willing to give up everything to save our souls. He paid the highest price so we do not have too, so we can just believe and receive everlasting life. His resurrection has proven all He said was true.

So let’s use this time to show that we do appreciate the offer that was made and teach those around us, the value of it. And carry on with it through the year.

As you can see this is an important time especially for Christians, so I just want to remind everyone, of the severe price Jesus came to pay for us and how He confirmed his teachings with him rising from the dead.

So I say to you, May you have a blessed Easter holiday and may the love He showed each and every one of us, touch you and carry you through every day and may you shine His love into every one you come into contact with. Remember to spread the news and share His love with everyone!