The Beacon
May, 2022
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” I John 4:7-8
"April showers bring May flowers." Have you seen that? Maybe you’ve heard the saying, but never thought much about it. In England, the month of April brings huge weather swings with the jet stream lifting northward at the start of the spring. The saying can be traced back to England from the 1500’s poet Thomas Tusser. Back then, he wrote “Sweet April showers do spring May flowers.”
This may be especially noticeable for those living in a “wintery” climate for several months. We so appreciate the warm weather, emerging lawns, tree buds, and colorful flowers as they dot the landscape. Is “new life” an apt description of what takes place in our spring climate?
With “new life” brought on by a weather change, people become active in many things: cookouts; bike rides; lawn work; gardening; walking; fishing; boating, etc. You may even have a change of heart or attitude! You feel as though you are breathing fresh air and you have a greater zest for life itself!
With that idea of “new life” in mind, consider what the Scriptures have to say about another kind of “new life.”
Ezekiel 36:26 – “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
John 3:3 – Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
II Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
I Peter 1:3 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Just as God is responsible for “April showers bringing May flowers,” He also can do a miraculous work in a person’s life. A hard heart can become soft. A person destined for eternity in hell can be regenerated and put on a course ending in God’s Kingdom. The old can become new. A life without much promise can now go on with a living hope.
The LORD sought out His people and then He spoke of a covenant of peace with them. In that context He said: “I will make them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season: they shall be showers of blessing.” (Ezekiel 36:25-26). May God shower your New Life!