Lessons of Spring

by Janis Lewis
Spring 1998

As Easter and the spring season approach, we reflect on the benefits of the cross. Just as the Lord created all the things that bloom in the spring and remind us of new growth and life, He also reminds us that He went to the cross so we could have new life and a way to acquire salvation and healing.

Nothing that blooms in the spring is born dead or dry. It comes forth refreshed, bright and full of life. In the same way, the Lord wants His children to experience this new growth and be refreshed.

For this reason, He taught us to pray so that we can come to Him as vessels ready and waiting to be filled up by His river of Living Water. Spending time with Him in prayer allows us to drink this water. As we drink, we become filled and refreshed. Through the blood Jesus shed for us on the cross, God prepared a way for us to come to Him and be refreshed and filled to overflowing with His promises and His truths.

As we approach spring, we should remember that a personal relationship is required in order to keep us spiritually full. Time spent with the Lord in praise, worship and prayer helps God's children stay joyful. "A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones" (Proverbs 17:22).

Praise and worship bring healing as we learn to give our first fruits to the Lord. As we do this, He is then able to minister to others through us with ease, because we have already set the groundwork to hearing and receiving Him individually.

Every time we come before the Lord in prayer, praise or worship, He is there, ready to receive us. He is always ready to meet us at our point of need, or the needs of others who are on our hearts. He waits for us to come to Him, and He is ready to fill us to overflowing with everything He has promised. There is nothing He would hold back from us, nor anything He would not give to us.

As we look toward the beautiful gift of spring, let us remember the lessons of the season: to come to Him first for a time of refreshing, so that when the Lord calls us to minister to someone else in need, we are already equipped through prayer to do the work the Lord has set before each one of us.

Janis Lewis is the Coordinator of Special Projects at CHM.