Spring

Song of Solomon 2:12 “The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtle doves fills the air.”

I love the springtime.  I love that the birds have returned to my yard and are taking baths in our sprinklers and bird bath. I love that dormant grass is showing signs of greenness. I love that the apparently dead plants in their pots have little green buds bursting out of stems that look incapable of supporting life.  I love that I can plant flowers and they will stretch their faces to the sun, spreading gladness to all who see them! 

I am told that not everyone wants to plant flowers then sit in a chair with iced tea and admire them…It is quite possibly a sickness…many people do not look upon flowers and grass as if they spread gladness. 

I believe that we are supposed to celebrate new life. Who can drive past a field of little lambs and not say “ah”?  Who can look on a new baby and not see how sweet it is?  Who can watch someone understand and respond to the gospel for the first time and not say “Yes!” followed my an invisible fist pump in celebration?

In the Bible God celebrates new beginnings:  the star announcing his Son’s birth, the worship following the rebuilding of the wall in Jerusalem, the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb.  As we celebrate Easter I want to encourage you to see the signs of new life around you.  Over and over God reminds us that new life is possible; the greatest reminder of that being what Jesus accomplished through his resurrection. Luke 24:5 & 6 (adapted) “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive?   He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!"

Not just a picture of new life, but eternal life; his for the giving, yours for the receiving.

Isaiah 61:11 “Praise Him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring with plants springing up everywhere.”