That's the Way the Cake Crumbles

Every year for our Easter celebration I make a bunny cake.  The bunny cake is in memory of my sweet Grandma Mary who passed away in 2004.  The memories of celebrating Easter at her home growing up are precious and fond.  The tradition of the bunny cake started with a "God Kiss" several years ago. Click on "God Kiss" to read about the special gift God gave me one Easter.

This past Saturday, I again set out to make my traditional bunny cake.  My husband's favorite cake is white, so that was the cake mix I decided to use.  I don't know if I didn't mix the ingredients quite right.  I think all the ingredients were in the cake.  Well, whatever the reason, it didn't quite turn out as planned.....

The bunny started to crumble and there was no fixing him.  Poor bunny.

However, when you make 2 round cakes, the best part is that you have another cake!  When I was taking the second one out of the pan, it also fell apart.  Thankfully, I was able to salvage it enough to put it back in the pan in one piece.  I took some colorful licorice from the kid's Easter eggs found at a hunt and used it to write

JESUS IS ALIVE

with a cross made out of licorice on the bottom.  I did have a picture of it to show you, but it got deleted.  : (   Trust me, it was beautiful!  Can you picture it? 

So, we turned the crumbly bunny cake into a beautiful "Jesus is Alive" cake.  Appropriate.  Symbolic. 

A bunny is no substitute for the real meaning of Easter. 

Everywhere we look, we see vibrant Easter eggs and bunnies.  We see pastel decorations and signs with HAPPY EASTER written in large letters with huge bunnies.  Neighborhoods boast large eggs and stuffed bunnies.  Among all the varieties of colorful grass, eggs, bunnies, chicks, and candy, where is Jesus? 

Don't misunderstand, I am all for fun and our kids do Easter egg hunts with eggs filled with candy.  I even make a bunny cake every year. 

However, if the focus is the bunny, the most important ingredient is missing!  And as a result, your life will crumble.  

"All flesh is as grass, 

And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.

The grass withers, 

And its flower falls away,

But the word of the Lord endures forever."  1 Peter 1:24-25 

Everything this world has to offer will crumble away.  Everything in this world will fall.  The Word of the Lord is all that will remain forever.  It is the rock on which we need to build our lives to keep them from crumbling.

It grieves my spirit when I see many in the world reducing the awesome price Jesus paid to redeem us from sin and death to a fluffy bunny holding an basket.  An empty basket can never satisfy what aches in our souls. Only the empty grave and a resurrected Savior can satisfy the unquenchable voids in our hearts.  The eggs are stuffed with earthly treasures while neglecting the Treasure God gave us on the cross.  The colorful grass will wither and fade away.  

Jesus paid the ultimate price on the cross.  He endured immense pain and suffering.  He was whipped countless times.  He was beaten until He was unrecognizable as a man. He was spat at and mocked.  A crown of thorns was pressed into His head.  Nails were pounded into His hands and feet.  Then, He suffered the slow, painful death of crucifixion.  All this and more, yet, the world remembers a bunny?  

He did nothing wrong, nothing to deserve that punishment!  I deserved it.  He died for me.  He died for you. He endured the cross so that we could be forgiven and live free.  

I pray I never forget where I was and how He saved me.  My life was a crumbly mess until Jesus picked up the pieces, put them back together and made it beautiful.  He will do the same with yours if you allow Him.  If your life feels like a crumbly mess, give it to Him.  He will give you a new, beautiful life.   A Jesus is Alive life!