With the yard now cleared of all colorful, interesting, Christmas decorations it was said to my wife that the yard looks bare and depressing. With the winter-scape in full swing and all the leaves now mulched away back into the lawn, we now have a smooth, evenly light brown yard that is the canvas for spring color. The grass, bulbs, and perennials that are already in place are mustering their energies, with the early bloomers already peeking out from among the bedcovers. In several weeks we will start to see the dormant life spring forth with new and interesting color, plus, what will come out of the commercial greenhouses will be irresistible, for pots of life in special spots.
The word tells us that God set things up on a “seedtime and harvest” principle – “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22). Life is that way. While we remain, what thoughts, choices, actions, and activities we sow into life is what we reap in life. It is a set law of life. Thankfully Jesus came and fulfilled and superseded the law of sin and death with the law of the Spirit of life. We all operate in a law of sin and death in our physical body, but the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8: 2). What does that mean to me? It means that by operating by that same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, my mortal body can have an infusion of resurrection life here and now. In that life we can be energized, healed, and made whole. Just like we eat physical food on a daily basis to energize our bodies, we can feed on the good news of what God’s Word says and energize our spirit man and physical body (Romans 8: 11). The key to that is to cooperate with the Spirit of God. If there is any one goal we should have at the onset of this year it is to learn how to better cooperate with the Spirit of God. He only leads us into good things. He plants good things and gives harvest to good and beautiful things. As we become co-laborers with him in the landscape of our life, even though we might be in the midst of a somewhat brown, drab winter now, by working with him we can expect good things to spring forth and be seen. What Jesus Christ has done for us to strengthen, energize, and heal in every way, is to be applied by faith just like we eat our “daily bread”. God confirms his Word with signs following. Apply his Word to the winter of your life, and see his life rise up in your behalf.
