Happy Easter!

I got this e-mail forward from a friend, and I thought it had some fun Easter notes to pass along. Look at all the things you can learn from the Easter Bunny!

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.
There's no such thing as too much candy.
All work and no play can make you a basket case.
A cute tail attracts a lot of attention.
Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.
Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.
Some body parts should be floppy.
Keep your paws off of other people's jelly beans.
Good things come in small, sugar coated packages.
The grass is always greener in someone else's basket.
To show your true colors, you must come out of the shell.
The best things in life are still sweet and gooey.

However, as fun as these things are, they're still missing the real reason for Easter. I'm not sure when the Easter Bunny came along and how the holiday turned into another one about food, candy and presents, but the real reason for the holiday is so much sweeter.

Jesus came into the world as the son of God. He lived a perfect life - never committing a sin. He did miracles, healed people and preached, but some people did not like that.

Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, was tortured horrendously and killed on a cross. At 3 p.m. today, Good Friday, the horn was blown in Jerusalem to make the Jews stop during the sacrifice of the lamb. It was at that exact time that Jesus gave up his last breath on the cross - the lamb sacrifice for all of us who have sinned.

"He who knew no sin became sin."

For us.

Thank the Lord that he provided a special lamb sacrifice for all of us. He tore the temple curtain in Jerusalem in two to show us that he was no longer off limits. We are all now allowed into the Holy of Holies to worship him, to build a relationship with him, to serve him.

It was all because of Jesus sacrifice on the cross.

But it doesn't end there.

At my home church, we call Easter Resurrection Sunday. That's because it's not about the Easter Bunny, it's about celebrating that Jesus resurrected from the dead that day. He overcame death so we too are not bound by sin and death anymore.

After he resurrected, the stone in front of his tomb was rolled away - not to let him out, but to let us in.

So Happy Easter, but remember the Easter Bunny has got nothing on the Savior of the world that truly deserves all the worship on this most holy of days.