by Rochelle Keogh - Discover the Scriptures
As a child there are many reasons to be excited about the celebrations surrounding Easter, but perhaps nothing is more exciting than an Easter egg hunt. In our family, the eggs that are hunted represent the rock that was rolled from the tomb and any empty eggs are especially important because they remind us of the empty tomb that was discovered that first Easter morning.
As I have watched my children participate in Easter egg hunts, it has occurred to me that the egg hunt is much more of a race than a hunt. When it’s time to hunt Easter eggs, the race is on! It is not inappropriate to have an Easter race of sorts as it echoes the events of the first Easter.
On that glorious Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw the stone rolled away. She ran to Simon Peter and John and told them what she had found. Peter and John were so anxious to get to where they had last known Christ to be, that they ran together to the tomb. John lets us know that he beat Peter to the tomb! That was the first Easter race. Peter and John were not running for eggs or candy. They were running to where Christ had been, running to find that the Lord had risen, running to come to know that He was the Savoir and Redeemer, running to find that, as prophesied, Christ had taken up his body on the third day, running to come to know the hope that Christ holds for all the human family, running towards salvation. Peter and John were running towards Christ.
Are you running to Christ?
Two thousand years later, many of us are running in our lives. As we consider the sacred and supernal events surrounding the resurrection morning, ask yourselves, "What am I running towards?" Are you following the example of Peter and John and running towards Christ, or are you more running in many directions and getting nowhere fast? I hope that this Easter we can all make a commitment to run to Christ and believe in him!
Need some ideas to teach your children about Easter?
Help your children appreciate and celebrate the life of Christ in a new way during Easter season this year! Start now teaching your children about the symbols of Easter that point to Christ. Our newest resource, Discover the Joy of Easter, will set you on a journey through the Easter story with more than 40 kid-friendly and Christ-centered crafts and recipes from all over theworld.
Discover the Joy of Easter has memory verses, Easter hymns, gift ideas for teachers, friends, and neighbors, Easter journal pages; and of course...the Easter story. Read how and why Christ celebrated the Passover in Jerusalem. Learn about the Passover symbols that point to the sacrifice of Jesus, and then put on your own Christian Passover for your family (recipes and directions included)! Read about Christ's atonement and death on the cross. Find out about his mission in the spirit world before his resurrection. Walk with Mary and the disciples to the tomb on Easter morning. Read about Easter among the Nephites.
Start teaching your children about Easter now with Discover the Joy of Easter. Get your kids excited about celebrating the life of Christ!