Does painting, hiding and searching for Easter eggs have anything to do with worshiping Jesus or God? No.
Does celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs winning the Big Game have anything to do with worshiping Jesus or God? No.

• Does God mind that the Chiefs are being celebrated after winning the Big Game? No.
• Does God mind if we paint eggs, hide them and let our children search for them? No.
• God is not against fun and joy. And it’s not a sin to look for Easter eggs or celebrate a football team.

However, if you worship the (non-existent) football god or meet the Easter Bunny with worship, then you have not (yet) recognized what the relationship between you and God is about.

No believer in Jesus kneels before the Christmas tree and worships it. We and our children just enjoy a beautifully decorated tree.
No believer in Jesus kneels in front of brightly painted Easter eggs and worships them. We and our children just enjoy dyeing eggs and hiding and searching for them.

We don’t need Easter. We have Jesus

And as Jesus believers, our joyful memory of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not reduced to the annual celebration of Easter anyway. We are happy 24/7 that our Jesus rose from the dead. Because that also guarantees us our reconciliation with God. We too, as believers in Jesus, have overcome death (the consequence of sin). We are fully reconciled with God through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus and have forever overcome (spiritual) death.

Teach this wonderful message to your children. But not necessarily when the little ones are eagerly looking for Easter eggs. Because our teaching of God and Jesus to our children is a 24/7 effort and is not limited to any festivals or events.

Early 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading across the world. With hundreds of thousands of cases worldwide by mid-March, millions of people are quarantining themselves while life as we know it seems at a standstill as many restaurants and businesses are closed and people are distancing themselves from friends and loved ones.

Where do diseases come from?

Not from God; Diseases come from the devil, the liar, accuser and thief. The devil steals our health. The devil wants to destroy the sheep and slaughter them; God protects his sheep.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (Jesus in John 10:10; NIV)

The devil sends diseases

If you read carefully about Job, the story of suffering in the Bible, you will notice that the illness that affected Job was not sent by God. The devil asks God to take Job’s health; and God allows it, but does not send the disease itself; the devil then sends Job the terrible sores: “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.” (Job 2:6-8; NIV)

Diseases come from your enemy, the devil; not from God, your friend. Jesus didn’t make a single person sick; Jesus healed them all. Whoever relies on God can know that they are safe and protected; no matter what may happen in the world around us.

The Devil’s Strategy

Does that mean you can walk around in the coronavirus pandemic areas without any hygienic protection and without precautions? Of course not.

The devil always wants to create confusion. His strategy hasn’t changed since he tried these same tactics on Jesus around 2,000 years ago. The devil, referencing God’s protection (from Psalm 91, Verses 11 + 12), suggested that Jesus should plunge from the highest part of the temple wall, knowing that God would protect Him after all. But the answer from Jesus? “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Matthew 4:7; NIV).

God gives us protection and understanding. Use common sense and rely on God’s protection

In a blizzard with negative temperatures, we cannot go out in our underwear, spend the morning outside in the garden and think that God would protect us from getting a cold.

We cannot drive 100 mph in a 35 mph zone and tell us ourselves: ‘It doesn’t matter. God will protect me.’

God gave us our minds and common sense. We should use it. Of course, also with regard to our health. Knowing that God is always protecting and guiding us.

But instead of becoming fearful, like sheep without a shepherd, we need to keep our focus on our God who is protecting us from the evil one, and spend time seeking His helpful, strengthening presence through conversations, prayers and reading the Bible.

• How often do you check your physical appearance in the mirror during the day? How many times a day do you read the Bible for your mind?

Do not be afraid of COVID-19

Are you afraid of coronavirus? Do not be afraid of “the pestilence” that rages, even if people around you are sick and dying. Trust the loving protection of your heavenly Father.

“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” (Psalm 91:5-11; KJV)

The decay of society. If you don’t love yourself, you can’t love others

The way we treat ourselves, we treat others as well. How should someone who hates himself because he keeps sinning love others? How should someone who is afraid of God and / or people really love others? “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Jesus in Matthew 22:39; NIV)

Are you surprised that frustrated and dissatisfied people cannot treat their fellow human beings graciously and generously? The old covenant law only taught: don’t steal; only in the new covenant does grace teach us to give.

Loving ourselves more and more

Anyone who believes and accepts the accomplished work of Jesus (that is different from saying “Lord, Lord” to him) is forgiven of all sins from the past, present and even future. Because of what Jesus did for us (making us blameless, holy and righteous), God can say this about us: “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” (God in Hebrews 8:12; KJV)

And so that nobody can ignore it, God repeats His statement two chapters later:

“And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” (God in Hebrews 10:17; KJV)

You are free. No more condemnation, no more feelings of shame, but the certainty of our immovable reconciliation with God. What joy! That is why the gospel is also called “The Good News.”

• We are saints, who unfortunately still sin from time to time
• What does it mean to be declared righteous?

Rejoice! “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8; NIV). And pass this wonderful love and joy on to your loved ones.

A dog doesn’t become a dog because it barks. A dog barks because it’s a dog.

It’s the same for us: We are not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners. Sin and the devastating consequences came from Adam’s disobedience to God.

Jesus as the counter image of Adam; the grace that brings everlasting life is more powerful than the deadly sin that came into the world through Adam’s disobedience to God.

“When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.” (Romans 5:12; NLT)

• God wants you to spend eternity with Him
• God gives and gives. And we joyfully receive

But Jesus makes all the difference

“But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.” (Romans 5:15-18; NIV)