This week it's Part 2 of our chat about how life in Christ is not about religion, but about relationship. We share a short list of some of the BIG differences between religion and real life in Christ! We talk about our futile attempts to keep God pleased with us through "self-imposed religion" and by subjecting ourselves to rules and regulations, as well as focusing on external, outward behavior - all of which is "of no value against the indulgence of the flesh!" Comparing all of this with the freedom and grace that we have in our lives in Christ, which do you want?!
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hey joel :-)
ReplyDeletethat's all...just sayin hey.
Hey Joel, I am just curious, but how do you guys 'celebrate' Easter these days. I am looking for some validation here. . . It has been awkward for me with the kids etc as we have looked into the origin of Easter etc and also, as a child I found the Jesus aspect of it boring compared with getting an Easter Basket. So, I don't even want to have anything to do with either. . . I figured you might have thought about it and might have another take on it. (And seeing as my daughters birthday is so close to the beginning of Spring I added a egg hunt to her birthday so as to avoid having to do anything on Easter.) At the same time I don't want to sit in judgement of how others might or might not celebrate Easter. I don't want to become self righteous in my stance. I just want to hide under a rock and avoid it all and just enjoy what Jesus has done and enjoy some good chocolate. And I desire for my kids to feel the same way, rather than deprived or feeling like they got brought up like JW's. So, what are your thoughts? I am curious.
ReplyDeleteNancy,
ReplyDeleteHEY!!!
Becky,
I'll simply share my current thoughts, and ask you to not hold me to them! :) LOL
Actually, I don't have any deeply held 'convictions' on any of this. If people don't want to do the egg and bunny thing, or if they do want to do it, that's up to them. I fully realize that none of it has anything to do with Christ and His resurrection. Some people try to make the egg out to be a symbol of new life... blah blah blah... but in reality it has nothing to do with Jesus rising!
All that said, my family does the egg and bunny thing... with the full understanding that it's nothing at all based upon Christ's resurrection. It's simply a fun thing to do.
And as for Jesus' resurrection, God never told us to make a yearly celebration out of it. (Same with the birth of Jesus). His resurrected life, which we've become a partaker of 24/7/eternity (!) is something to celebrate in an ongoing way, daily, hourly, moment-ly!
He is risen, and He lives in us and us in Him!
I think what I'm saying is that I guard against going along with tradition just for tradition's sake, but I also don't mind joining in some of the fun and celebration as long as I know that that's all it is... tradition.
Thanksgiving Day, birthdays, St. Patrick's Day, Christmas, etc... What does any of it have to do with our lives in Christ? Nothing at all... but in our culture I think it's up to us individually how much we want to go along with some of those traditional celebrations. As long as we don't make them into laws... Now there would be a sad, sad thing!
How's that for an answer? LOL... Again, I'm just sharing my thoughts, and I won't hold me to them if you won't. :)
I think I have to agree with you there. Thanks for sharing!! I find it's easy to struggle with knowing the origins of things. But really. . . In the grand scheme of things. . .
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