The Hope of Easter, Always.

It’s the day after Easter.

So what does that mean? The chocolate in the stores will be discounted. Leftovers of Easter meals will be eaten. Plastic eggs and remnants of Easter baskets will be cleaned up.

That’s all true, but what does the day after Easter really mean to those who, just yesterday, celebrated the Resurrection of Christ?

When I was little, I remember doing an Easter egg hunt around my house with my whole family. For this particular egg hunt, instead of plastic eggs, we somehow decided to hide real eggs that we had dyed and decorated. All the kids hunted and hunted until we were sure we had found them all. Then, the Easter festivities ended and we went about our regular business until we realized a putrid smell was coming from my basement; none of us could figure out why. Well, a few weeks later, we found the lingering rotten smell was coming from one lonesome egg that the children had failed to find during the Easter egg hunt. The stench hung around for weeks. Lovely, right?

So, why am I telling you this? As a warning to not hide real eggs around your house, yes. But there’s a deeper connection I just recently made: what if we intentionally allowed the joy we feel each Easter about Christ’s resurrection to linger long after Easter day, much like that smelly egg did in my house?

It’s so easy to move quickly away from the eternal hope we all just had on Easter Sunday, back to the hustle and hurry of our everyday lives.

But the hope of Easter doesn’t have to be limited to one day. In fact, it shouldn’t be.

Death’s defeat, triumph over Satan, the offer of steadfast love and joy. These aren’t gifts that should be isolated to a one-day, or even a three-day, celebration. Christ suffered and was raised again so that we could wake up each and every day with the knowledge and peace that He has already conquered sin, death, and anything that might come our way.

He died so that we could have the hope of Easter always.

This is an everyday joy that anyone who believes in Christ can have.

So, let’s let that Jesus-joy, hope, and love linger…not just for a few weeks like the egg in my house, but for eternity.