When I was a kid, I don’t remember hunting for a basket full of candy and toys at Easter time.  Instead, my mom hid jelly beans all over the house and I would spend most of the afternoon looking for the little gummy treats.  Maybe my parents didn’t want the sacred holiday to be overshadowed by the Easter bunny.  Or maybe sending me off to fill my own basket was a sure way to keep me occupied on a Sunday afternoon.

I was pretty good at searching out the sweets and always had plenty.  However, when my cousins came to spend a few weeks in the summer and we pulled out the hide-a-bed, inevitabley there would be a sticky bean under the cushions.  And in the fall, when I needed to look up something in the encyclopedias for school, a sneaky bean would roll off the top book shelf.  In December, when we moved the furniture around to make room for the Christmas tree, a rogue bean was usually found behind the piano.  It was like Easter kept showing up all year long, in the strangest places.

As I journey through the Bible this year, I’m finding that Easter still pops up in unlikely places.  In Exodus: “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.” (Exodus 6:6 )  In Leviticus: “It is the blood that makes atonement.” (Lev. 17: 11)  In Psalms: “They have pierced my hands and feet.” (Psalm 22:16)  In Isaiah: “He bore the sin of many.”  (Isaiah 53:12)

Easter isn’t just a nice springtime holiday with yummy treats.

The resurrection of Jesus carries over into every day, all year long.

Like my jelly beans, the Easter story keeps springing up.

Keep up the hunt.