Pastors' Corner

Spring has sprung and with it the grass gets greener, the trees start budding, the flowers begin to poke their shoots up, and the weather starts to get warmer (except for that crazy arctic wind). Winter always brings about the “death” of nature when everything becomes brown and dies away. But the gloominess of the grayness of winter is finally transformed into the radiant beauty of spring. I love the changes at this time of the year. It cries out of beauty, new life, and a fresh start.

Speaking of a fresh start, we all need one and we all want one. No one is perfect; we all struggle in various ways with our lives. We all need a second chance and struggle to regain trust that has been lost. We want to conquer our demons and overcome our fears. We want to know that we’re forgiven and that we’re loved. Life can beat us up and get us down. The question is: When life gets us down, do we ever look up?

The reason I love this time of the year is because it reminds me of the new life and fresh start that God offers us through the death of His Son Jesus Christ. I do not find it coincidental that the greatest holiday of the church, Resurrection Sunday, occurs in the spring. And the significance of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ is that God took that which was dead and brought it to life once again, just like we see every year with the change from winter into spring.

The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:1-5 that we were “dead in our trespasses and sins…but God, being rich in mercy…made us alive together with Christ.” And Romans 6:4 tells us that “…as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” The problem is, these things are only available through and by God.

Maybe you need to reconnect with God. Maybe you need to have some issues taken care of and need a fresh start. Maybe you’ve been looking around too long for answers that you can only find by looking up. If so, come and join one of the local churches this Sunday. Easter is still three Sundays away, but you don’t have to wait until then to seek out God. The Prophet Isaiah warns us: ‘Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:6-7). God is waiting, will you come to Him? I hope so.