Spring's Redemption

As I looked out the window this morning and saw one of our dogwood trees on the verge of blooming, I was momentarily captivated yet again by God's beautiful creation.  I love the changing of the seasons.  And they seem to come just at the right time for me.  I love each of the seasons.  But just when I'm getting tired of one, a new season is dawning.  Each season speaks to me in vastly different ways, but one consistent thought remains:  how great Thou art.

God's imagination in creating the earth astounds me.  Each sunrise that brings a new day.  Each cool breeze on a warm summer day.  The darkness that sets in after a beautiful sunset.  Fresh fallen snow that shimmers in the moonlight.  The magnificent colors of autumn.  All creation sings His praises.   

Spring is a season of renewal.  The dead, brown grass turns a lush green.  Trees that have been stick figures for months are once again bearing beautiful flowers.  Everywhere I look, I see the transformation of Spring.  Spring is God's physical reminder to me of spiritual redemption.  As I see creation coming to life after a cold, long winter, I'm reminded of the atonement I have received through Christ.  

I really love Christmas.  Who doesn't, right?  But I also really love Easter.  And not just for the Cadbury Mini Eggs.  (That's what I like to call a little bonus.)  There seems to be so much hype around Christmas.  With presents, decoration and the like.  Not that I mind any of that.  But it's much easier to focus on the cross at Easter time than it is to focus on His birth at Christmas.  Don't get me wrong.  There are more than a few distractions in everyday life, but do you get what I'm saying?

Each year I find myself getting a deeper connection to the cross at Easter.  I remember a few years ago when it really hit me.  I mean sure, I've known for a while that Jesus died on the cross for me.  But when I really knew it, it was an indescribable feeling.  An overwhelming feeling of gratitude coupled with deep regret for my sins.  An incredible feeling of being loved coupled with the shame of my sins keeping Him nailed to the cross.  

As beautiful as it is to see the revival of Spring, God's best redemption work is in the hearts of His people.  In my heart.  "For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross,"  Colossians 1:19-20.  It is only by the grace of God, only by His blood shed on the cross at Calvary, only by His son, Jesus Christ, that I am able to have such a sweet communion with my Heavenly Father.  The gap has been bridged.  My sins are paid for.  The punishment that brought me peace was upon Him...and by His wounds, I am healed.