What Easter Means to Me
By Ava Guldi
(1st Place winner of the Easter essay contest grades 9-12)
When I think of Easter, I think of all the things that Jesus did for us. Despite all of the fun activities and traditions my family has, Easter is when we rejoice in the fact that we have a chance to have eternal life and live with God forever in heaven. I always think about how Jesus was the perfect sacrifice because in the Old Testament, the bible talks about how if you sin, you have to make a sacrifice to God. For example, you had to find a lamb without any defects and blemishes. Then you had to slaughter it as an offering to God so he will forgive you for your sins. Jesus is often called “The Lamb of
God” which truly shows that he is compared to that perfect lamb that could get you forgiven for your sins. John 1:29 says, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God. He takes away the sins of the world!” This tells us that Jesus was God’s lamb that he sent for us to be the perfect sacrifice that takes away all of our sins just like the lamb did in the Old Testament.
Every year on the night before Easter, my family and I dye eggs. In the morning, we wake up and open our Easter baskets. We then attend the Easter service at church and do an Easter egg hunt there with all of our church friends. After church is over, we go to my grandma’s house where we meet my cousins and other grandparents there. We all eat amazing food, and my personal favorite is my grandma’s famous green beans and cheesy potatoes. When my grandma cooks her green beans, she uses bacon in them and it transforms the whole flavor!
After we eat, my mom and my aunt go outside in the backyard, where they hide eggs for each of the grandchildren. We always tell them how tough we want the eggs to be hidden. They hide eggs in the trees, in pipes, up in the treehouse, and even by the rocks. Sometimes there’s candy in the eggs; one year there was money which was my personal favorite.
When we all go inside after the egg hunt, we all just hang out together as one big family and have the best memories, remembering what Jesus did for us. I am so grateful that we get together like this every year and that we spend the most time we can with each other. 1 Peter 1:3: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." Easter means joy, happiness, and love because of the ultimate and loving sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for our sins. This is why we rejoice every day on one of the best days of the year.