Well, it’s that time of year again. It’s time to spring our clocks forward by one hour. I know there are people out there that really dislike the time changing because we lose an hour of sleep, but outside of the little adjustments we have to make to get use to things again, there are some really wonderful things seen in the spring of the year. On the ideal spring day, you can hear the birds chirping, the sun is shining, and an assortment of flowers are all in bloom. The world basically wakes up from a long winters nap and new life can be seen all around us.
Our spiritual lives can be like a new spring day every day. With each day that the Lord blesses us with we have new opportunities and new moments to choose to live for Him. Joshua in Joshua 24:15 made it very clear who he and his family were going to serve when we said, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. New days and new moments give us the same opportunity to choose God and can spring us forward into a life that is pleasing to Him.
For those that are outside of Christ each day is a new opportunity to get your life right with God. As we can see in 2 Peter 3:9 the Lord wants all people to repent and come to Him. Each day we live is another opportunity to repent of our sins and have our sins washed away in the watery grave of baptism (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16). When we rise out of the waters of baptism we are to rise to walk in “newness of life” (Romans 6:4). As a new child of God, we are a new creation and have been made alive through Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 2:1). Putting Christ on in baptism and having our sins washed away brings about new life and from that moment on we should spring forward into a life that chooses to live for Him daily.
But what about when we find ourselves no longer walking according to that new life in Christ? Maybe you and your spiritual life have been taking a long winters nap and have found yourself walking again in the darkness of sin. One of the great things about being in Christ is that even when we fall short and sin, we can know that we serve a God that loves us and will forgive us if we will confess and return to Him (1 John 1:9). For those of us in Christ we have an opportunity to spring forward in our spiritual life because of the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God.
No matter what condition any of us find ourselves in each day, let us always remember that every moment of every day can be a moment that is used to spring us forward into a life that is pleasing to God. May we all continue to choose God and let us all continually grab hold of that new life that is found in Him.
Derek Broome