It does not matter how cold, bitter or long winter may last; spring, eventually, comes.”
–Kenneth Pratt (Dragon’s Fire)
“As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night.”
–Genesis 8:22(TLB)
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March is a transitional month. It comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. We have not had the howling or high winds, only a couple of days of a breeze that made the tops of the trees sway. However, there is another thought that comes to my mind. It is apropo that Easter falls on the last day of March. “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12, NKJV) March 29 will mark Good Friday, the day that the Lamb was slain as the ultimate sacrifice to redeem mankind. Easter–that day of power when the Lamb rose from the grave!
Do not look away from the Lamb too soon, for in Him we have eternal life. It was John who first proclaimed His appearance. “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'” (John 1:29, NKJV) The people were looking for a powerful Messiah who would rid them of Roman rule, but John saw something, even though vaguely, different. Jesus came to become a victorious conqueror, but not in the way the people expected or wanted. He would conquer death, hell, and the grave. He would take the sting of sin and death away. Paul brings forth this fact in his letter to the Corinthians, “Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55, HCSB) A conqueror, not in the fashion of the thinking of the people, but a conqueror over more formidable foes.
March also brings forth the transition from winter to spring. Thomas Merton wrote one Easter, “Peace and meaning. Sweet spring air. One could breathe. The alleluias came back by themselves.” One could breathe–winter has passed. Oh, there still may be a spring storm, but the death of the winter months has seen another year and spring is all around. Just look, the flowers are blooming, the trees are budding and here in our part of Texas the leaves are already back. New life has appeared. Transition! New birth! “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.'” (John 3:7, NKJV)
The death of the old man is gone. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV) The new creature, the new life is not ours because of the Lamb who was slain. We are now a walking “alleluia” but do we know it, do we show it? More importantly do we live it? New life has come, breathe in deeply of the “spring air” of the Holy Spirit. Let your hearts be at peace, for the old has passed away; it was defeated by the Lamb of God.
Let me close with one more thought. “Now is the winter of our discontent,” wrote Shakespeare, a line that was borrowed by John Steinbeck in his last novel. Some of you reading may be in the “winter” of your life. There are more years behind you than lie in front–not to bring despair, but speak the truth. Some, especially nonbelievers will try to remain young, live the Peter Pan Syndrome, or try to look like Taylor Swift. Listen, it ain’t so, it ain’t gonna happen. Death is the result of living! It is inevitable, therefore instead of living the final days–winter–in discontent, take heart, for the winter of life is almost past and spring, eternal spring, is waiting. In front of us lies the hope and promise of the renewal of life, the fruitfulness of grace.
————————————-
March is a transitional month. It comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. We have not had the howling or high winds, only a couple of days of a breeze that made the tops of the trees sway. However, there is another thought that comes to my mind. It is apropo that Easter falls on the last day of March. “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12, NKJV) March 29 will mark Good Friday, the day that the Lamb was slain as the ultimate sacrifice to redeem mankind. Easter–that day of power when the Lamb rose from the grave!
Do not look away from the Lamb too soon, for in Him we have eternal life. It was John who first proclaimed His appearance. “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'” (John 1:29, NKJV) The people were looking for a powerful Messiah who would rid them of Roman rule, but John saw something, even though vaguely, different. Jesus came to become a victorious conqueror, but not in the way the people expected or wanted. He would conquer death, hell, and the grave. He would take the sting of sin and death away. Paul brings forth this fact in his letter to the Corinthians, “Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55, HCSB) A conqueror, not in the fashion of the thinking of the people, but a conqueror over more formidable foes.
March also brings forth the transition from winter to spring. Thomas Merton wrote one Easter, “Peace and meaning. Sweet spring air. One could breathe. The alleluias came back by themselves.” One could breathe–winter has passed. Oh, there still may be a spring storm, but the death of the winter months has seen another year and spring is all around. Just look, the flowers are blooming, the trees are budding and here in our part of Texas the leaves are already back. New life has appeared. Transition! New birth! “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.'” (John 3:7, NKJV)
The death of the old man is gone. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV) The new creature, the new life is not ours because of the Lamb who was slain. We are now a walking “alleluia” but do we know it, do we show it? More importantly do we live it? New life has come, breathe in deeply of the “spring air” of the Holy Spirit. Let your hearts be at peace, for the old has passed away; it was defeated by the Lamb of God.
Let me close with one more thought. “Now is the winter of our discontent,” wrote Shakespeare, a line that was borrowed by John Steinbeck in his last novel. Some of you reading may be in the “winter” of your life. There are more years behind you than lie in front–not to bring despair, but speak the truth. Some, especially nonbelievers will try to remain young, live the Peter Pan Syndrome, or try to look like Taylor Swift. Listen, it ain’t so, it ain’t gonna happen. Death is the result of living! It is inevitable, therefore instead of living the final days–winter–in discontent, take heart, for the winter of life is almost past and spring, eternal spring, is waiting. In front of us lies the hope and promise of the renewal of life, the fruitfulness of grace.