March is one of my favourite months of the year. Everywhere I look there are signs of new life. There are daffodils and bluebells shooting up all over the place, baby green leaves and blossom are appearing on tress, birds are busy collecting materials to build their nests and lambs are skipping in the fields. How wonderful it is to see, after the long cold winter where everything seems to have been asleep or dead.
Every year I am a big fan of channel five’s ‘Springtime on the Farm’. It follows a family run farm near Barnsley in spring and shows the highs and lows of farming life. Many of the highs include the birth of different farm animals including lambs, kids, calves and foals. Scenes which the farmers and television presenters are always excited by and never seem to tire of.
Another popular feature on this show is ducklings and chicks hatching from their eggs. Eggs are often a symbol used at this time of year for new life and were often given at springtime before the first ever Easter. The Greeks, Chinese and Persians exchanged eggs with each other to celebrate new life in nature.
Nowadays in the UK it is chocolate eggs which are often exchanged and represent Jesus rising to new life from the tomb as written in the Gospels. Luke 24:1-5 says “On the first day of the week at early dawn, they (Mary Magdalene, Mary, mother of James and Salome) came to the tomb, taking spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen.”
Jesus’ resurrection completely changed things as death no longer had the final say. What was dead was now alive! That is the same today for all who believe and trust in Jesus because when we turn to follow him, we are putting to death our old self and becoming a new creation. In other words, we are given a new life in Christ. And just like every spring when the dormant daffodils and bluebells come back to life and have a new beginning, we too have a new beginning in our walk with God.
This new life is something we can continually have because God is a god of forgiveness and fresh starts. If we drift away from God or if we have not been living in a way which we should, we always have the option to turn back to him in repentance and have a new beginning once again.
As we approach Easter at the end of the month let us spend some time enjoying the new life which is springing up all around us. As well as taking some time reflecting and saying sorry to God for all those things we have done wrong in his sight and turn to him for the first time or again so that we can have new life in Christ.
With every blessing this Easter time,
Kirsty