Tonight at dinner I tried to explain to M why we celebrate Easter. It's so easy to get caught up in the materialism and commercialism...I want her to understand that the holidays we celebrate have deep meaning and significance. But she's four.
So we started with a conversation about Christmas and how that is when we celebrate Jesus' birthday. And then I told her that we celebrate Easter because Jesus decided to get in trouble for all the bad things we do so that we wouldn't have to get in trouble. I illustrated this by telling her it was like M2 writing on the wall, me coming in and asking who did it and then M saying she did it because she didn't want M2 in trouble.
She understood what I said but couldn't really wrap her head around the concept - why would she say it was her and not M2? Why would someone get in trouble for someone else? And I totally get how hard it is to accept. I'm grown and it's still hard for me to wrap my head around. Why would God send his Son to save me? Knowing that I'm full of sin and so unworthy? Intrinsically, we don't have that kind of love for one another - the willingness to give up our most perfect, most loved to save someone who is less worthy. It is truly beyond our understanding. And you realize that once you try to explain it to a four year old and you can't really find the words to explain why God loves you so much, except to say "He just does."
It makes me think about the choices I have made throughout my life - the choices that were made for selfish and self-serving reasons...the choices that lead directly to sin. And I wonder "Is this what God had in mind when he sacrificed his Son for me?" Shouldn't I want to do better, live better? Shouldn't I want to serve him honorably? And honestly, it makes me want to be better - in every way.
And it's funny because when I started this conversation with M, I thought I would be the one teaching her something...
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