Just as nature has its seasons I think Christians do, too. We need to start it with spring, the time of birth and discovery and new growth.
Spring is an exciting time. Flowers poke their heads up from lawns, flowerbeds, and hillsides. Birds begin preening and singing. Young animals and birds are born and follow their mothers out from the woods, the hen house, the doghouse, and the trees.
When a person gives his or her life to God, everything is reborn, exciting, joy filled--just like spring.
Summer is the time of growth. Fruit and vegetables mature and so do the young animals. New Christians begin to mature, too--although it takes longer than three months for most of us to complete the process.
And autumn--harvesting and sometimes even replanting. Nature replants in the fall. When fruits, vegetables, grasses, and weeds mature, they drop their seeds. The seeds and nuts look dry and dead, but they're not, are they?
Christians can sometimes grow dry and appear to be dead, too. Their lives don't reflect Christ at all. It seems they've gone back to their old ways and there's no hope for them.
Winter. Dead-looking trees and bushes and snow-covered, cold mud, or brown, dry ground, depending on the year and where you live. A time of rest for plants. A time to scrabble for survival for wild animals.
The bottom of the pit for backsliding Christians. A time when people lose hope in them. They even lose hope in themselves.
But don't rejoice, enemies of God. The Lord hasn't given up on them, and the Bible says He never will.
Spring is coming.
No comments:
Post a Comment