One of my favorite devotions is Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon. If you like to read online, then here is a great place to access it. For me, some of the most memorable lines in the work are the beginning of the evening entry for April 1st. Spurgeon writes,
“This month of April is said to derive its name from the Latin verb aperio, which signifies to open, because all the buds and blossoms are now opening, and we have arrived at the gates of the flowery year. Reader, if you are yet unsaved, may your heart, in accord with the universal awakening of nature, be opened to receive the Lord. Every blossoming flower warns you that it is time to seek the Lord; be not out of tune with nature, but let your heart bud and bloom with holy desires.”
Spring reminds us of the resurrection power of God. There’s something majestic about flowers in bloom, dogwoods turning white, and redbuds displayed in their lavender beauty. The new life that comes during this time of the year, confirms the fact that our God is the God of new beginnings. As Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning.”
I don’t know where you are in your walk with the Lord right now, but I do know that He desires to do something new in your life. You may have been saved 50 years ago or you may have been saved last week. Either way, God wants to do something new in you. In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John sees God on the throne and God declares; “Behold I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5). We tend to think of the book of Revelation as the “end times,” but the last two chapters of the book reveal that the end of the end (i.e. Revelation chapters 21 & 22) is not the end… it’s actually the beginning!
Christian, I hope you can feel the newness of life working in you during this season of the year. God has a plan for you, and that plan is for your spiritual good. Look around you. All nature declares that God has a plan. His plan is to bring forth new life. Together, let us push “the gates of the flowery year” wide open and enjoy the garden of resurrection!
God before government,
Rit