Monday, April 4, 2011

Hello Spring!



The wildflowers of Texas are in full bloom and beautiful along the highways. Green is sprouting everywhere and the weather is warm and welcoming. It is a season of new life and new beginnings. Hello, Spring!

With this time of year, I am reminded that not only is nature undergoing transformation, but I am, as well. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17) Tenth Avenue North sings, "You are more than the choices that you make, you are more than the sum of your past mistakes, you are more than the problems you create. You've been remade." If you know Christ, you are being made into something new and beautiful.

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, the four siblings shake off their fur coats when Aslan arrives to melt the long winter. When Jesus came, winter was over. When we acknowledge He is the Son of God who sacrificed Himself for us, we can shake off our winter coats. Shame, guilt, regret, doubt, and anger all melt away in light of the empty grave.

A friend of mine said that she feels intense shame knowing that Jesus knows her imperfect thoughts and actions performed in secret. My response is that I feel freedom that someone knows all my imperfections and rough edges and loves me in spite of myself. Jesus desires to mold us into His image. It is a lifelong process but He is transforming me for His glory. There is no shame or regret in bearing my imperfections to the One who has promised to change me. It is time to throw of the coat of shame and regret from a long winter.

Celebrate this spring! There is freedom and new life in Jesus Christ! He is the great I AM of making things NEW.

Jesus said, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." John 10:10

Song property of Tenth Avenue North

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