Spring is here. Hurrah! I enjoy all seasons, but the transitional ones are the best. Having enjoyed/endured one of the strangest winters ever, the relief of spring is most welcomed. We’ve experienced some frigid days and days where we thought we might wash away. I noticed after one day of relative warmth and long-awaited sunshine, the hearty, sun-loving buttercups started sprouting forth. Not far behind were the forsythia bushes with their matching yellow blooms.
One young boy was amazed at these blooms suddenly appearing on what seemed to be dead bushes, the bushes where his mother found her switches when he misbehaved. “Mom, Mom,” he called, “there are roses on the switches.”
Oh, if spring would only make us all see the roses on the switches in life. As a memorial to a young friend of mine who made her Heavenly journey recently, I gave to the family limelight hydrangeas for the planting. Although they bring forth gorgeous blooms later, they look dead now. I thought it would be an object lesson for her young children. They could see how lifeless the bushes are now and how they later will spring to life. We bury our loved ones in dead bodies, but they come vibrantly alive in Heaven in the presence of God’s magnificent light.
Another visual that represents resurrection is baptism. As a Vacation Bible School class toured the church building, one little boy whispered to his friend as they passed the baptistery, “Don’t look in there; there are dead people in it.” He had taken the preacher’s words literally he had heard him say during baptismal services, “Dead to self; alive in Christ. Buried with him in baptism; arise to walk in newness of life.”
I praise the Lord that our baptistery has been used often this spring as so many have wanted a new life in Christ. They followed the ABC’s of salvation – Admit you are a sinner (All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. Rom. 3:23) Believe Jesus died on the cross as payment for your sins and that he desires a personal relationship with you. Then you must accept Him into your heart and His payment for your sins. (Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Acts 16:31) C (Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: Luke 12:8) (For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:10) The scriptures teach that baptism is announcing to the world that you are dead to self and alive in Christ. (He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:16) Following Christ in baptism is the first step in obeying Him.

This spring as we see new blooms push through the soil, as we don new clothes for Easter, as we celebrate the risen Lord, may we remember, too, we will be buried in this earthly shell, only to arise in new and stunning bodies in Heaven if we have accepted Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for our salvation.
Any reader, who doesn’t have the peace and joy of having Jesus as his/her Lord and Savior, can contact me, and I will gladly tell you how you can have this satisfaction and tranquility. May you be drawn to the sun/Son, and have an abundant life.