Jesus and the Easter Bunny

Well we are at that precarious age where fantasy and reality collide.  Jared will turn 10 next month and for him right now, the world of make believe is a lot more real than reality.  Where do we as parents draw the line and try to ever so gently bring him into the "real world"???

This is a question I am sure all parents must ask at some time in their childrens lives.  But what is the "correct" answer?  I ask this because this year has been a tough one for Jared, he is crying now because the Easter Bunny didn't make it through the storm last night...but Halleluiah Jesus sent 4 inches of rain!!!

How do you explain that our Savior was beaten, shamed and died on a cross for us and this is the REAL reason we celebrate Easter?  A childs perspective on sin is when they do something naughty and get a time out.  How do you explain worldly sin to a child caught in the middle of a world of fluffy white bunnies and chocolate peanut butter eggs?  Reality vs Fiction...how do you make reality more appealing to a child?  I live in the real world and there are very often days in these uncertain times when I wish I could return to the world of childhood.  The land flowing with chocolate and peanut butter...

I will share with my little boy the same answer that has been the rock of my foundation.  This verse was written on my heart as a child and transitioned me over the abiss from early childhood to reality:

"For God so LOVED the WORLD that He gave His only begotten SON that whomsoever believeth in HIM should not PERISH but have everlasting LIFE.  John 3:16" 

Words to cling to when the world has got your goat, on days when there is no chocolate but your days are very much like another brown substance and the streams of abundant JIF peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are just no where to be found...cling to the truth.  And the truth shalll set you free.

Thank You Lord Jesus.