The Blessings of Spring

In Canada everyone knows the difference between winter and spring. Until I spent a lot of time in southern California, I did not realize that people living there also see a difference in the seasons. Last January my three-year-old grandson in California wondered why some plants in his dad’s garden were dead. I told him that they would come back to life in the spring.

This cycle of life and death reminds me of a similar spiritual principle in the Bible. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24, NIV). In saying this, Jesus was trying to prepare his disciples for his death and resurrection.

When Jesus did die and was buried in the tomb, the disciples were confused and sad. Three days later their grief turned to unspeakable joy at Jesus’ resurrection. By dying without sin, the Lord Jesus was able to take our place. The sinless Son of God took the punishment for sinners. Therefore Jesus the God-man received life through death.

 Unlike Jesus, we were born spiritually dead, but we may receive life by faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:10, NIV).

Have you accepted this priceless gift of God—eternal life—by trusting that Jesus paid the penalty for your sins? The blessings of spring could not come without the reality of winter.

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My Trojan Horse

I watched in surprise as ants marched into the kitchen from the dining room. Later on I found more in the living room. When I saw even more by the picture window in the living room, I thought that they must be getting in there. So I asked my husband to caulk outside. I even stuffed a small wad of steel wool into a hole.

A week passed. I had emptied several boxes of Kleenex to pick up dead ants. Drops of liquid ant killer lay scattered all over the living room, dining room, and kitchen floors. “What am I going to do? I can’t figure out where they are coming from,” I moaned.

Discouraged and frustrated, I knelt down in front of the fireplace to gather up more carcasses. At that point my eyes wandered toward a huge log stored on a brass basket. Then I saw it. An ant was crawling out a tiny hole in the log —then another—and another.

“Oh, no!” I yelled to my husband. “Get that log out of here!”

However he was in the bedroom and did not hear me at first. To my relief, he finally heard me and dumped the heavy log onto the front porch. Shortly afterward he carried it to the woods far behind our backyard.

Just like the fictional Trojan horse, my husband had carried that log into the house unaware of the ant nest inside it. Nevertheless the principle of the Trojan horse has been in force since the beginning of time. Satan appeared harmless to Eve. Yet he convinced her to eat fruit from the forbidden tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden. The result was devastating for humanity because now all of us are born in sin and spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1–3).

The Lord told Cain that sin was crouching at his door and desired to have him. Likewise, all of us are tempted to sin. Sadly, Cain gave in to the temptation and murdered his brother, Abel. James writes:

When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death (James 1:13–15, NIV).

My husband unwittingly brought an army of ants into our house. In the same way, yielding to temptation leads to a multitude of sins. Refusing to repent of those sins results in deadly consequences—everlasting punishment in hell, the place prepared for Satan and his demons (Matthew 25:41).

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The Planet Venus

In June 2012, thousands watched as the planet Venus passed in front of the sun. Although similar in size to Earth, it looked like a small speck of dust on the surface of the sun. Think how much smaller humans are than Venus.

David writes, “For he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14, NIV). Solomon laments, “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return” (Ecclesiastes 3:20, NIV).

Comparing people to dust reveals how amazing God’s love is for rebellious sinners. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden, they broke the bond of fellowship with their Creator. They doomed the entire human race to everlasting punishment. Moreover all of us have followed them in rebellion against the Lord. But God the Father was not willing to lose the fellowship of sinners. He sent his Son into the world to redeem us from the bondage of sin. Let us praise the Lord Jesus! He was willing to leave the glory of heaven for specks of dust. I think that is amazing.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, NIV).

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The Mighty Conqueror

Triumphant and victorious he appears,

And honour in his looks and habits wears;

How strong he treads, how stately doth he go!

Pompous and solemn is his pace,

And full of majesty, as is his face;

Who is this mighty hero—who?

Tis I who to my promise faithful stand,

I, who the powers of death, hell, and the grave,

Have foil’d with this all-conquering hand,

I, who most ready am, and mighty too, to save.

By Mr. Norris in Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Volume II, Isaiah 63:1–6, page 863.

On the day of vengeance, Christ battled Satan completely alone. The disciples had deserted him; even God the Father had. Standing alone and covered with blood, Jesus is “mighty to save.”

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being my mighty conqueror and Savior. It only happened because Jesus was willing to leave the glory of heaven to come to earth as a tiny helpless baby. 

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The Invasion of the Beetles

While looking out my bedroom window, I had no idea what lurked between the blades of grass. I did see weeds, however. Since they bothered me, I decided to go outside and pull them up.

Before long, I spied a tiny beetle jumping in front of me—then another—then another. What is going on, I thought. Those tiny little creatures were hopping all over the entire yard; I could not get away from them. Maybe the drought this summer had encouraged them to multiply.

Believers are like those beetles. At Pentecost God saved 3000 people. When persecution broke out later, many fled throughout the Roman Empire. Thousands witnessed to their neighbors who then accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. In this way the church quickly grew.

The Lord has continued to work through ordinary believers to reach others for Christ. We may feel insignificant and tiny like those beetles. But God has a plan for each of us. By doing our part through the power of the Holy Spirit, God is invading our sin-cursed world and increasing his kingdom.

“In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace (Colossians 1:6, NIV).

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