New Beginnings

Even as a chill still fills the air, there is certainty that spring is just around the corner. As I step outside, instead of the cold silence of winter I am now hearing the faintest sounds of hope from birds beckoning for the longer and warmer days that are yet to come. God in Heaven is about to dip his brush in the paints of His palette, and soon mountains, valleys, forests, and fields that looked dead and desolate will spring forth with life and color for us all to marvel at.

Those howling northern winds we quickly tire of, soon will only be a memory and the smells of honeysuckle and jasmine in the warm night air will take their place. Even now as the days begin to grow longer, there is a feeling that the entire world is about to awaken from a long winter’s nap.

Every year we witness this marvel of God’s creation, when just as a newborn first opens his or her eyes the entire world around us awakens with life and new beginnings. Soon everywhere we look there will be signs of new life and hope for a better future. Spring reminds us all that in the midst of our darkest and coldest times there is a new beginning just around the corner.

Spring also brings us Easter, and the message of the cross that we all are promised a new beginning through Jesus Christ if we would just ask forgiveness of our sins and believe that He lived and died that we might be forgiven. Winter and its cold air and darkness could be eerily similar to the day of the crucifixion, “when there was darkness over all the land”. The beauty of the story is that not only was there a winter, (crucifixion), but there was a spring, (resurrection), where our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ conquered the cold loneliness of death forever, and we all have a promise of a new beginning if we will just trust in Him.

Just as a seed bursts through the crust of the earth, one day there will be a resurrection, and the saints who have all gone before us will burst out of the ground and we who are still alive will join them in the greatest new beginning ever. However, in this new beginning, spring will be forever, and death will be no more. God will paint his masterpiece, that is creation one last time and we will all be able to marvel at this new beginning for all of eternity.

Then we all bow down and worship the God of new beginnings, who loved us so much that he would send his only begotten Son so that we should not perish, but can live in His presence forever. If life seems as hopeless as the darkest and coldest day of winter, just remember spring is coming, and Jesus Christ offers us all a new beginning if we will only ask. It is that simple, will you join me in that land where springtime is forever!