Jellybeans & Jesus

This has been a busy week for me. Lots of ministry prep going on and a sick daughter at home. The sick child required a couple of trips to the local pharmacy. While there I was overwhelmed by all of the candy and toys they had displayed for the upcoming Easter holiday. This however, did not surprise me as much as what I found in doing some research for an upcoming teaching event. When I plugged in the word Easter to my clip art program I was inundated with dozens of pictures of bunnies, baby chicks and candy before even one image popped up reflecting the spiritual connotation of this most holy holiday.

Sad, frustrated and maybe even a little angry, if I'm being truly honest, were some of the emotions I've felt this week. Again, I've been confronted with the realization that the week that is set aside by Christians to reflect on the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ has been infiltrated by commercialism!

Now don't get me wrong, I do enjoy preparing for a visit from the Easter bunny in my own home...never met a chocolate bunny or a bowl of jellybeans that I didn't like. But, I am concerned that these things can overshadow the amazing work done by HIM for us.

The Lord reminded me, in the midst of my attitude, of something that I did faithfully with my girls when they were little. Always looking for a way to keep them focused on the true meaning of holidays, like Christmas and Easter, I worked up a way to incorporate one of our favorite seasonal candies into a devotional.

I would give each of my girls one of every colored jellybean in a bag. One by one we would talk about what that color represented in the Easter story. It would go something like this...

Yellow - God's Word tells us that the streets of heaven are made of gold. John 14:2 says there are many mansions there and Jesus is preparing a place for all that believe in Him. Heaven is perfect; there is no sin, sickness, death or fear.

Black - Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We need to get rid of our sins before we can enter heaven.

Orange - the color of the sun reminds us of God's Son, Jesus. John 3:16 tells us that God sent His Son to take our sins away...something that we can not do for ourselves.

Red - Christ came into this world to show us His love by dying on the cross for our sins. We must believe that His blood cleanses us from all sin. I John 1:7,9

Purple - reminds us of the suffering of Jesus as He choose to die for us. He was perfect, without sin and yet took our sin on Himself so that we might have salvation. Matthew 27:50

White - Psalm 51:7. Jesus will wash our sins away and make our hearts clean when He forgives us. He then remembers our sins no more.

Green - II Peter 3:18. God wants us to grow as Christians. Just like green grass keeps on growing we must too. We grow by studying the Bible and praying and reaching out in love to others.

Pink - this color represents the joy that we have as Christians knowing that we are forgiven and that we have a relationship with the Father because of all that Jesus did for us, and because we now have the Holy Spirit living inside of us to help us and comfort us. John 10:10 tells us that Jesus came that we might have an abundant life.

This evening I am going to get out the candy jar and my Bible and talk with my girls, again, about all that Jesus has done for us! I pray that, this Resurrection weekend, you will blessed by the precious presence of our Lord and Savior!