Spring Is In the Air
It is remarkable what you can see if you just keep your eyes open and the radio off when you drive. Yesterday on the way home from work there was a fellow working all alone cleaning out a fence row that had been taken over by briars and vines from the previous years. Just last week, along the same stretch of road, a crew of three worked for several days repairing and replacing the fences around a two hundred acre plot.
Farmers everywhere are plowing the fields preparing them for the planting season. First they plow in one direction and then another They want to make sure that the ground is ready in time to receive the seed of the spring planting. It won’t be very long until they plant the fields and the crops will be peeking up, lifting their arms toward heaven in hopes of sunshine, nourishment and growth.
Spring is an awesome time. It is perhaps the most exciting time of the year for almost everyone. The weather is not hot nor is it cold. As the baby bear said, “It’s just right…”.
Spring is a time of growth. The fall of the year lulls the vegetation into a deep sleep. The once healthy grasses that cover the land wither to a dull dry brown. Trees discard their leaves and pull their sap into the roots to protect themselves from the coming cold of winter. The birds alter their colors for the winter season to protect them against predators. The livestock begin to grow unsightly shaggy hair to blanket them against the chilling winter cold. Brrrr…!
But spring….Aaaahh, spring is different. The birds of the heavens shout of a newness as if to awaken the grass and the trees from their sleep. The animals shed their long hair and groom themselves to a vibrant and shiny coat of fur that proclaims, “I’m alive and growing!” Spring is about life.
You and I go through something very much like this process. We go through dry periods. We tend to pull our sap down into our roots in order to become renewed. We get a little shaggy. We even turn a bit brown. But…it’s spring! It’s time to come alive! It’s time to send the sap back up the tree and reach those arms toward heaven and shout as we wave in the breeze of the Spirit that we are alive. Look world…we want to live and grow. We hunger for nutrition from God.
I thought I had seen a lot until this morning. Same ole drive. Same ole road. Different picture. As I passed a pasture, I noticed something different about the cows.. Most of the time they would be standing toward the back of the field choking down rolls of brown dry hay that the farmers had put in the racks for them. Not today. They were on the move. It seemed as if almost overnight the green grass had sprung up. It was everywhere. The cows were grazing all over the pasture. One old cow saw a clump of luscious green grass on the outside of the fence. I stopped to watch. Now, get this picture. You have a barbed-wire fence. Not just the usual three or four strands but seven. You couldn’t even crawl through a fence that tight with wires that close together. This ole Bessie cow got down on her knees, with her back legs pushing forward, lunged her head underneath the lowest wire just to get a bit of fresh green grass. Oh, that I could have that kind of desire to feed on the freshness of the Word of God. Oh, that I could resist Satan’s powers long enough to feast on the springtime of God.
Because of what I have seen today, I will do better. If a cow can push the limits to feed on the freshness of spring, can’t we do even more?
It’s past time to come alive. Are you still hibernating or are you ready for the renewal of spring?