What would it take for you to have a “happy Easter”?
According to one advertiser, we can "make it a happy Easter" by buying their gift cards to give to our friends.
What a relief! Happiness––apparently our greatest need––is easily attainable. We need not worry about having a boring unsatisfying Easter. We can be happy. Just buy things!
What’s not to like about that? After all, isn’t that what Easter is all about––our happiness?
What if I told you that God has more for us than temporary happiness?
And isn’t happiness our greatest goal in life? I mean, it sure beats sadness, right?
What if I told you that God has more for us than temporary happiness?
Everyone tries to be happy and content. It is perfectly normal. By our nature, we want to "eat, drink, and be merry.” I love to hold my wife, laugh, play, eat a good meal, spend time with my kids and grandkids, watch a good game, drink a latte, listen to music, enjoy the outdoors, play with our German Shepherds, and even put in a good day’s work. There are a lot of good things that make me happy.
So, be sure you understand I am not against happiness.
Have you seen the Saturday Night Live skit featuring “Debbie Downer”? I’ve met people like that. To these folks, it doesn’t matter how good things are, they always seem to find a way to bring us down. They can’t seem to enjoy the blessings of life or allow others to enjoy them either.
Maybe they suffer from depression, have been reared in a negative environment, or feel spiritually superior if they wear sackcloth and ashes and point out every fault. They have no sense of humor and take everything too seriously. It is sad.
I feel sorry for these folks and wish I could help them. But whether I can help them or not, I refuse to let them ruin the happiness I get from the good things God has given us. After all, every good thing has come down from the Father (Jas. 1:17).
God is not against happiness.
But check this out; God has far more for us than temporary happiness. Adrian Rogers has said that happiness depends on happenstance, or whatever happens to us.
Paradoxically, when we forget about our happiness and seek the glory of God and the good of others, we can know something far more satisfying than our fleeting feelings can provide. We can experience transcendent peace and joy from a relationship with God.
It is the gospel––the good news––the message of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ that makes a relationship with God possible.
It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ that puts the exclamation point on the gospel.
I hope you and your family are well and enjoy all the fun family traditions surrounding Easter, but keep in mind that unless you can use those activities to point to the resurrection of Christ and bring glory to God, they are actually cheap distractions.
All the glory must be given to the One Who defeated death, hell, and the grave–the Living Lord Jesus Christ!
So, do not be distracted this Easter.
All the glory must be given to the One Who defeated death, hell, and the grave–the Living Lord Jesus Christ!
Find a quiet place and read the story of Jesus. Humbly ask Him to speak to you and reveal Himself to you through His word, the Bible. Consider that through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, God made a way for sinful people like you and me to be forgiven and have a real and personal relationship with the One True Almighty Holy God through His Son, the Lord Jesus.
Christ does not call us to be His fans but His followers (Luke 9:23). As you follow Christ, you will find meaning, purpose, and satisfaction in life, which nothing can compare.
Christ came, died, and rose from the dead so that we might have a life that is full and meaningful and never ends.
In John 10:10b, the Lord said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
He can give life to all who come to Him because of Who He is. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn. 14:6).
The ad said, “There’s Still Time to Make it a Happy Easter!”
But the truth is life is brief and our only hope is Jesus!
And only those who believe the gospel will receive eternal life and know the hope of Easter.
Hallelujah! He is risen!
