New Life Because of Jesus
It’s that time of year again- time for spring cleaning and tending to our gardens! Who doesn’t love spring? Well, if you are not an avid clean freak or don’t have a green thumb, you may not love the tasks that come with spring. But having windows open, birds chirping, and the smell of fresh flowers in the air is wonderful!
Spring is also the time when we start thinking about what to do with dead leaves in the yard and the branches that have broken during the winter. We start to nurture the plants that are presumed dead, but every year gradually come back to life.
As I may not look forward to the cleaning and gardening, I am always enamored as I watch the burst of new life that comes this time of year. Even more than that, I love the symbolism that it carries, and how it reminds me that I once was dead but now I am alive because of Jesus.
This time of year I love celebrating the miracle of new life that is possible because Jesus rose from the dead and gives new life to every person who responds to Him. This is the best news of all, and praise God that our new life in Him will never die again. Jesus says in John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life and life to the full.” I have always admired my Haitian friends who have walked through so many challenges and they have reminded me many times that “Bondye bay, Bondye pran” - God gives and takes away, but there is no fear in death. In some of the most turbulent storms and darkest, coldest seasons of my life, I have been able to stand on the promise that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor 5:17) I know that new life in Christ will be alive all year long—it will never shrivel up and die!
I pray that this season has awakened your heart and rejuvenated your spirit as you look around and see the first little flowers bursting out of the ground from death to life! May it be a reminder that our Savior was once dead and rose for us, and because of Him there is no fear of death again, as we have the promise of eternity. May that promise be what stirs us all to boldly share with others the truth of what Jesus has done for us.
With Love,
Vanessa Johnson