As I write this, it is Easter 2016. I came into the Easter season with very little excitement this year. Before I was a Christian, I quite enjoyed Easter. I loved to hide plastic eggs filled with candy for my kids in our backyard. We would spend time the night before filling the eggs and hiding them for the kids, so they would believe the Easter bunny brought them. The kids were always so excited to wake up and see their Easter baskets waiting for them, filled with little goodies and candy. We also put out the night before so it would like as if the Easter bunny brought them. Then, later in the morning we would dye eggs and do yet another Easter egg hunt, this time the kids would hide them for each other. We would usually have family over for an early dinner, and then spend a relaxing evening at home, trying to wind the kids down from all the sugar.
There was no church service or talk of Jesus Christ or His resurrection during these years before we became Christian. We could care less about Jesus at that point really. During this time of year I also reflected on the spring festivals and holy days of witches, the Spring Equinox, which reminded me of the Goddess and Mother Earth. I did not celebrate those things on Easter itself, because they were separate events. Most of all, Easter has always been a time of family for me. I really enjoy family and spending time together, and that always makes a a holiday special for me.
This year there was nothing particularly special about Easter for me. Two years ago we ditched all of our Easter baskets, plastic eggs, bunny decorations and things of that nature. My husband and I decided that we did not want to teach the kids about the Easter bunny and celebrating with eggs and baskets and things of that nature anymore. The reason behind this is because those things have nothing to do with Jesus and do not glorify Him in any way. They are more about the pagan rituals of fertility and sexuality than Jesus, but we have adopted them and changed them to be cute and fun. I have nothing against these practices, we just don’t see the point in doing them anymore. It was fun for many years, but utterly meaningless. Coming into a relationship with Jesus Christ is what gave real meaning to Easter for us. Thinking about His sacrifice and His resurrection. That in itself was enough to throw out the baskets and eggs for us. Jesus is a far better trade off in my opinion.
Saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
Revelation 5:12-13
This year I have really lost all joy in Easter whatsoever. I just do not see Easter the same way anymore. I could try to view it with the same child like innocence that I always have before, but my life and the way I see the world is just not the same anymore. For one, I recently found out about severe abuse in my child hood, perpetrated by my family and the Mormon Church. This has completely rocked my world. A part of this abuse has been satanic rituals, done in the Mormon church. It has opened my eyes to a whole new understanding of our world and the spiritual realm, even greater than I had before. I am also living in a lot of pain on a day to day basis. Some days are not too bad, others are unbearable. I have learned more than I ever thought there was to know about witchcraft, and it’s effects in this world.
There is a pretty big movement of Christians who are completely against Easter. They say it is a pagan holiday and it is wrong for Christians to celebrate it. They say that we are doing something offensive to God and trying to take something wrong and put a Christian spin on it to make it right. I can understand the stance and where it came from, but I cannot agree with this movement at all. The problem is, the devil is having a field day distracting these Christians with the “evils of paganism” and then using them to turn other Christians away from Easter and Christmas. Christians who hate these so called pagan holy days are full of anger and make very negative statements in which they throw Bible verses at others, with their claims of righteousness in abstaining from them. This is not the work of God, who is not the author of confusion, nor division.
I have spent a lot of time going over the facts of what paganism is and what makes a pagan holy day, so I am not going to do that again. If you are interested in those, please read my post on paganism, and also on Christmas and paganism. I think that people have lost the real focus in their fight when they start to throw stones at paganism. Paganism is merely a distraction of the enemy to lead people astray from the real problem prevalent in our society. Witchcraft. Witchcraft is very dangerous and very real. It is seductive and has lasting effects that run deep on those who choose to participate in it. I know, because I am still removing the hooks, over 3 years after I gave my life to Christ. I too have been led down that rabbit trail of paganism, condemning everything that looked pagan to me, and feeling very self righteous in the process. It took me these 3 years to begin to see that paganism is simply a part of our society, ingrained in every part of it in ways we don’t even realize. That does not make paganism evil, nor does it make it inherently wrong either.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
John 3:17
Can we glorify God through customs that are pagan in their roots? Can we take days that were once holy to the pagans in the ancient days of the Romans and Greeks, and recycle them into something for God? In a short answer, no. We as people cannot do take something as big as this and change it for good; but God can. Nothing is too big or great for God. Can we glorify God through practicing Easter customs of dying eggs and chocolate bunnies? Probably not. But God will be glorified regardless of these things, because He is much greater than the sum of our pagan parts, all mish-mashed together. It may not be through the eggs and bunnies, but it will be through us – His children, and through His Son, Jesus Christ.
I do not think Easter is wrong, nor do I think Christians should abstain from it. I certainly do not think that Easter offends God, nor does God get mad at Christians for celebrating it. I do not think it is wrong to not celebrate it either, if you choose not too. What I believe is wrong about Easter is those who decide that they should not celebrate it, and then use the Bible to condemn those who do. Or these same people who say they are trying to teach others about the truth. The truth is that Easter is not a pagan holiday, and that is a fact. It is a Catholic holiday, adopted by Christians and the U.S at large. It is derived from a pagan holiday and includes some customs that are based on pagan rites and rituals. To make it a pagan holy day, it would have to currently be a day set aside by witches or satanists to be used in observance to their gods and for rituals. This is simply not the case.
There are however, holy days for witches and satanists that are observed in this same season that we celebrate Lent and Easter. This does not make Easter pagan, and the fact that we focus on Easter and paganism is pretty ironic, considering at this very same time of year human lives are being sacrificed to Lucifer. I do not hear one single Christian standing up for the rights of the poor human beings who have their lives taken from them in the name of Lucifer and other gods. There are four different sacrificial rituals in April alone, in which human lives are used. Where is the outcry for these people? Who stands up to rally against satanism and rituals where witchcraft is being sent out everywhere? Who even realizes that the mass witchcraft done in rituals by people all over the world on the same days actually has a huge effect on the rest of us in this world? Not many. No, we are safe in our own little worlds, being distracted by bunnies and eggs, or the hatred of them.
Let me get back to my Easter day today. We slept in, as we decided to go to the late service at church. We picked up my father in law, who my husband is not close too, but lives in an assisted living place. We wanted to give him a nice time regardless of our own feelings. We got to church about 40 minutes before service for the deacons pancake breakfast. We ate and then moved into the worship center to get a seat. The worship service was nice – songs that glorified Jesus Christ and His resurrection on the cross. I always love worship, and love to sing to my Lord and God. Yet this year I could not bring myself to focus on the death and resurrection of Christ. I did not want to spend weeks or even the day reflecting on the work Jesus has done for us on the cross. Why? Because I have already spent a long season of my life doing so, and I believe that for me, it is time to move on.
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.
Hebrews 6:1-2
I do not want to take time once a year to think about Jesus and His death and resurrection. I do not believe that it is effective in moving me closer to Jesus. I do believe for some people it is, and I think that is wonderful. I have no issues with that whatsoever. But for me, it is time to move forward. I do not believe life should be a circle that we keep going around and around again. That is actually a pagan idea in itself. The witches wheel of the year, in which they have their holy days they observe. Well we are living much in the same way. We go year in and year out, marking the seasons with holidays to remember and reflect. But I do not want to crucify Christ again, year after year. He is not a man living on earth, being beaten and murdered anymore. He is God in heaven, glorified and seated at the right hand of God the Father. That is how I want to think about Him, every day.
It is very important to know about and understand what Jesus has done. It is impossible to know Him and His amazing love for us without knowing about the crucifixion. But I believe in order to grow and to know who we are in Christ and what God has for us here during this time we have on earth, we need to move forward, away from the cross and into God’s plan. You see, I believe God has called each one of us, before the beginning of time. I believe we knew God before we were ever born, and that God gave us His plan for us; a plan that included us doing something amazing for His Kingdom here on earth. We should remember the cross, but that should be something that is a part of our hearts and who we are, not a holiday once a year. We need to stop going back over and over again, marveling at the empty grave, as if it is something new to be rejoiced about. Instead we need to take the work on the cross and let it shape and transform us as we move through this world, bringing His light into it.
I do not want to loose the wonder of who Jesus Christ is in my life, by relegating him to a couple of holidays every year, or even to once a week at church. Jesus Christ has given me something more wonderful than any person could give. It is something so amazing I could never portion it out to a single day or hour of my year. He has given me love. Not just any love, but true love. Unconditional love. Love that heals wounds, changes hearts, brings the dead back to life, and sets the world on fire. I have always wished for a love so pure and so deep that it would complete me. I have finally found it, in my wonderful savior. Are you ready to run after Him with that same passionate love, and see what more there is in your relationship?
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:6-7
