Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4
Oh how I love the spring time. All things fresh and new, trees budding, flowers blooming, I welcome the warm sun on my face after a harsh season of cold blustery winter weather. Even though I suffer from seasonal allergies, I love the warmth and newness that spring ushers into our region; fully enjoying the eye candy that God so generously provides with the colorful crocus, daffodils, and peach tree blossoms. That is what the weather was like when I first started this blog in mid to late-March…unseasonably warm, and oh so inviting for these tired, achy joints.
The nice weather teased and tantalized me, making me daydream of being outside and clearing away the winter sludge, digging around the perennials and planting flowers in my new flower bed. I could hardly wait for the smell of freshly cut grass and had an insatiable yearning for those longer days of daylight to enjoy the warmth on my comfy front porch swing. Tomorrow, I thought, I am going to get outside, work in the dirt, and take some pictures of those gorgeous peach blossoms!
Those were my comforting thoughts as I went to bed that Friday night. Much to my chagrin when I woke up on Saturday the ground on top of our mountain was covered with snow! The cool spring rain and night air had turned on me with a vengeance! The wind blew fiercely, bending the tender young limbs of the dogwoods and the frigid air nipped at the precious young buds and all but destroyed the beautiful peach tree blossoms. I was sad and distraught; the freezing rain and snow had damaged my precious hydrangea bush that I had nurtured back to life after some careless landscapers all but destroyed it. I had watched it daily as the warm sunshine had coaxed it to slowly burrow up from deep within the earth during those last weeks of warmer temperatures.
As I wallowed in my sorrow that cold, snowy Saturday morning, I thought, this must be how God feels about us. We are God’s once perfect creation "gone bad"! As Christians, we are washed totally clean by the blood of His precious Lamb. The sacrifice of His Son has made us clean, fresh, and new just like spring, a rebirth. Praise God for His sacrificial and redeeming love. But when we take our eyes off Jesus, Satan comes along dangling prize after prize in front of our nose. For some, that prize is fame, others covetousness, still others it might be jealousy, busyness of life, or perhaps gossip. Whatever we may choose to call it, it is sin, and like a cold frost that burns away the freshness of spring, sin destroys the newness in our lives.
Happily spring is a season of many changes in our area and soon the warmth returns and regrowth begins anew. Fortunately, for Christians God’s grace and unconditional love allows us the forgiveness we need to return to our ‘spring’…our newness, and continue to grow in oneness in our relationship with our Creator.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. II Corinthians 5:17