Spiritual Lessons from Spring - Life Emerges New
Early Spring
From Journey into Trust
Every spring when the delicate purple Hyacinths emerge, I begin the clearing away process around my yard. I sweep away the crumpled brown Pin oak leaves that litter the little fertile areas surrounding our house, uncovering the tightly curled Hostas that have begun to poke through the earth.
I grab scissors and cut down the old, mauvish-brown remnants of last year’s Autumn Joys revealing the small sturdy new growth underneath and then I cut away the left-over dried Echinacea stems with their spiky tops in the front garden box.
Under all the rubble of wrinkly brown leaves and those left-over stalks I can just begin to make out the groupings of new cone flower leaves. Evidence that new life abounds and the cloak of cold wet, winter is about to be shed.
Raking away the old rubbish and piling it on our fire pit reminds me, again, that the old ways must go in me, too. They must be cleared away so the fresh work that God is doing in me can spring forth unhindered…so it can peek out from hiding and be enjoyed. God wants the beauty He’s sown in me to spring forth. He doesn’t want my lifeless patterns and rubbish bin thoughts to occupy me any longer. He bids me to let go of the past—rake the useless onto the burn pile and let His new life, new ways, and spiritual growth appear afresh to fill the space of my life with vibrant green.
This year I almost lopped my Annabelle Hydrangeas down to the ground because I kept reading that they’ll send up new sturdy branches. But when I started to cut one back, I noticed the green buds already gracing the stems. I decided to just cut the brown delicate flower balls free and see what would happen. Every stalk I left had life in it and the buds took off running up and down those woody stems.
Another lesson learned. If we are already in Christ through faith, then many times we don’t need to be cut all the way back to be renewed or to show forth the renewal God is doing in us. When His life is in us, a little trimming will make room for more growth—more fullness than in previous years and we do not need to start over again and again.
Thank you, Jesus, for the new life you’ve made in me. You are the vine, Your people are your branches. You will show forth Your life in us and let us glorify You in new ways with each changing season.
Thank you for dying upon that cross—truly it was Your rake that removed all the old me out of the way, so with Your resurrection You would birth new life forever in me. Thank you for doing this new thing in me—it is continuing to spring forth in fresh ways even all these years after your saving work first stirred my five-year-old soul to follow You.
Father God, keep filling me with the beautiful growth You have purposed for me from before time began. May my life be well-pleasing to you all through the day, season after season, year after year.
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Truth to Reflect Upon:
Ephesians 2:1-10 - By Grace Through Faith
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Have you asked Jesus to clear away the old, dried out you?
Have you invited Him in to your life so His NEW LIFE can spring up inside of you? If not, please click here for a deeper understanding of the Good News and a short prayer that will help you receive His forgiveness and new life.
Have you pondered that if you have committed your life to Christ, then you are God’s workmanship - His masterpiece! And that you have been “created for good works, which God prepared beforehand” for you to walk in? Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to put some of those good works He has in mind for you on your heart so you can walk in them!
If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and new life, have you memorized 2 Corinthians 5:17 yet?
It says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
BELIEVE the truth of this verse and hold on to its PROMISE!
4. Take some time in prayer and reflection to evaluate the current state of your life’s garden. Do you need to ask Jesus to come in and do some raking away of old thought patterns or habits that don’t match with the new life He has given you? Ask Him to clear away the sin that is getting in the way between you and Him. Don’t let anything hinder your love relationship with Him. He wants the old to be cleared a way and for the new to truly spring forth and be a witness all around you!
Lastly, Bible study is important for spiritual growth. If you’re not in a study currently or aren’t sure how to choose a good study, then this article that I wrote can help.
