Yesterday we began our Easter-week journey with Mary Magdalene asking, “what’s your story?” Today, the question is, “what will you give him?”

Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.

Luke 8:1-3 (ESV)

It’s not terribly surprising to me that Mary would be among this group who traveled with Jesus, giving of their own finances and time to allow Jesus and His disciples to minister. When we know how very much we have been forgiven of, we can’t help but be overwhelmed with love for our Savior. Mary’s life, her eternity, had been radically transformed, and now she just wanted to be near Him.

She knew Jesus in a way few people ever would. She knew Him well as the Son of God, healing the sickness of her soul. She heard Him teach with power and authority even as He compassionately touched the crippled and set aside “important” things to hold little children and laugh as they babbled to Him about the silly nonsense in their heads. She knew His favorite foods, the intonations of His voice, His mannerisms and facial expressions.

No one knew her like Jesus. He had seen her at her very worst. I’m sure she wrestled with knowing the evil that was in her past, and yet when He looked at her, she saw no condemnation, no mockery, no insinuations of her guilt. She saw forgiveness. She saw love that she had never experienced before.

The love and forgiveness and transforming power of the Savior had turned her life upside down. She owed him everything – she knew that everything she had, everything she was, was due to Jesus Christ.

Giving him her time, her finances – her entire life – was a reasonable response. It was the only choice that would make sense.

Yesterday we reflected on our own stories. How God had radically entered our lives and miraculously brought us from death to life, from darkness to light. If we really understand what He has done for us, if we really understand where we would be without Him, if we really grasp that we owe him everything…

What will we give Him?

I love the phrasing of Romans 12:1 in the NKJV:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Offering yourself, your whole self, as a living sacrifice wholly devoted to God is not simply for ‘super Christians.’ It simply is reasonable service. It is the only response that makes sense.

This Easter as we consider what was done on our behalf, the undeserved mercy lavished on us that transformed every breath we take and the eternity we face – what will we give Him? Would we dare to hold part of ourselves, our possessions, our loved ones, our dreams back from Him as though we had already given Him “enough?”

Everything is the only reasonable response.

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The countdown is on… the day when we celebrate the Day that changed our eternities is only a few weeks away. Are you planning for it with the fervor and attention you give to Christmas? Don’t let Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday slip by with little more than some colored eggs and a new dress!

As I mentioned, my plate is a bit full right now and my writing time is limited. But I wanted to point you to some great resources as you prayerfully consider how to make this season meaningful and purposeful with your family!

To make:

[hint to fellow moms - I have found that working activities like these into the weeks proceeding the holiday give us more time to talk about them and think about what they mean, and take some pressure off of the big weekend itself!]

Resurrection rolls

Easter Story Cookies

To watch:

The Story of Jesus for Children -The Jesus movie for kids – the crucifixion scene is a little too intense for my little ones, but they love watching the first half of the movie!

Read and Share DVD Bible: Easter – I like this movie for my kidlets – accurate but much less intense and easy for kids to follow. Even though it’s a cartoon and very tame, AG still hides behind the chair during the crucifixion. Hence the reason why we’re not ready for the crucifixion scene in The Story of Jesus for Children!!

God’s Wonderful Surprise – YouTube video of the Easter story as found in The Jesus Storybook Bible

To reflect:

The repentance box – We’ve been doing this again this year and it has been great for my kids… and for me!

Free Easter Devotional and instructions for making an “Easter passion tree” – we loved using Ann’s Jesse Tree devotionals at Christmas and I’m looking forward to using this for Easter!

Other ideas for filling your season with purpose and meaning:

• This year I bought several boxes of Matzoh crackers that we have been using in place of other snacks occasionally during Lent. I explained to my kids how during the Messianic seder it is pointed out that the Matzoh have stripes and piercings that remind us that He was pierced for our transgressions and by His stripes we are healed. LB is very fond of the “special Jesus crackers!”

• Teach your kids how yeast often symbolizes sin in Scripture. Bake bread together, discussing how a “little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”  Then make homemade matzoh together, discussing how removing the leven from the bread reminded the Israelites that their lives were to be pure and clean.  In the same way, because our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed on our behalf, the “yeast” of sin needs to be searched out and removed from our lives.  Use 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 as the basis of your discussion.

• Read through the book of Mark! Mark is the shortest Gospel, containing only 16 chapters. We have been reading through portions of Mark during lunchtime. Take a chapter a day and you’ll be done in a little over two weeks!

• Discuss the meaning of the Feast of First Fruits! Plant grass seeds in small pots together, discussing Jesus’ words in John 12:23-24- Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. His death opened the door for life!

From The Seven Feasts of Israel by Zola Levitt – First Fruits is held on the Sunday following Unleavened Bread. The Israelites brought the early crops to the Temple – recognizing that God was the provider of what had already been harvested and what was still to come. What happened the Sunday after Jesus’ crucifixion and burial? Quoting from Levitt:

Jesus of course, celebrated the Sunday of the week of His crucifixion by rising from the dead. It was not some other day He chose but the very day of First Fruits, of course, just as He had performed on Passover and Unleavened Bread, each with the appropriate action. Jesus even presented His proper First Fruits offering to the Father. Graves were opened and dead people rose and were seen after His resurrection in Jerusalem (Matt 27:53). The Lord, not unlike a Jewish planter, gratefully showed the Father the early crops of what will be a magnificent harvest later on.

May God fill you with creative ideas as you seek to make this season meaningful with your family! Have some suggestions to share? I’d love to hear them!!

This post is linked up to Impress Your Kids’ Meaningful Easter! Click here for more great ideas!

{This is a repost from 2010 – it seemed appropriate to share it again today as Lent begins and I pull our box out once again.}

If you were around these parts in years past, you know how passionately I feel about refocusing on Easter.

The resurrection is central to everything!  I want to make sure that it is not overshadowed by Christmas – truthfully, even Valentines Day and 4th of July often get more emphasis than this – the day looked forward to in Scripture all the way from Genesis 3 – the day that changed eternity.

Last year was my first experience with truly implementing fasting during lent, and we even celebrated our first family seder. {It got better in 2010!} :)

It was a start.

This year I am determined to make the most of this season.  I am determined to make it a worshipful, celebrated, rich time of teaching and reflection for my family – as much as is within my power, of course!  So, when I saw Ann Voskamp’s post about a Box of Repentances for Lent (sent to me courtesy of my friend Nikki, who said she knew I would love it!), it had my name all over it.

Today I made ours.

It’s just a simple paper mache box, decoupaged with scrapbook paper and wound tight with twine.  The nail and verse were added to keep our focus on what this truly is all about.

A small stack of 3×5 cards, cut in half, sit next to the box.  Each day, as individuals, we will write the confessions of sin for that day.

Some will be big.
Some will be small.
All are sin.
All are paid for in the blood of Jesus Christ.

On Good Friday, we are planning to burn these cards as a vivid reminder, to both us and our children, that the ultimate price has been paid for our debt of sin – the record has been wiped clean, and we are truly free.

We’re talking about doing this with our small group on Good Friday. What a powerful time to reflect together on the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf!

Do you have any special traditions you use to focus on the significance of Easter?

This was originally posted on July 4, 2009.

In our Bible study we’ve been working through the book of Malachi using Kathy Howard’s Before His Throne. A couple of weeks ago she pointed out something that really struck me from Malachi 1:6-9.

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty. “It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name.

“But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’
“You place defiled food on my altar.
“But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’
“By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible. When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty.

“Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?“-says the LORD Almighty.

The priests in Malachi’s day were approaching a holy God with attitudes of contempt, offering defiled sacrifices and then asking, with great audacity, for God to bless them and be gracious to them. Kathy Howard pointed out the modern day version of this scenario in our own country.

Especially at this time of year, the rallying cry of the country seems to be “God bless America!” We post this slogan on billboards and sing it out with emotion and emblazon it on our t-shirts. Thinking about the general attitude toward God in our country, and the severe lack of true fear of God even within most of our churches… how dare we stand before the throne of a holy God, with hands open and ready to receive, asking Him to bless us?

In contrast to this very self-serving prayer, we would do well to consider the prayer of Nehemiah before seeking Artaxerxes’ favor to rebuilt the wall in Jerusalem:

They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.

Then I said:
“O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

Nehemiah 1:3-7

Today as we celebrate Independence Day, I am deeply grateful for the freedoms that we have in our nation. We do not take lightly the sacrifices that have been made that enable us to worship God openly, speak freely, live securely, and enjoy a level of prosperity unknown to the vast majority of people in this world.

However, if we truly love our country and the people in it, we as believers must wrestle with the fact that our prayers should resemble more the mournful cry of Nehemiah than the hypocritical and audacious prayers of the wicked priests in Malachi’s time. Before we can cry out “God bless America!,” shouldn’t we be praying with a heavy heart, “We have acted very wickedly against you! We have not obeyed the commands, decrees, and laws you gave… Have mercy on us, O God!”

We have a great national heritage. Many of those who have gone before us have sought to honor our holy God. God did bless America, and we are profoundly grateful. May the Church take seriously the need for repentance before we can utter a request for God’s continued blessings.

The God our nation claims to be under is holy. Tremble before Him, America. May He have mercy on us, for we are a wicked and rebellious people.