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Spring is a wonderful
time of the year! With it we see the world come alive as it
were from the dead of winter and the birds return while the
leaves and blossoms appear on the trees.
Solomon aptly described
this glorious season, saying ”Lo, the winter is past, the
rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the
time of the singing of birds is come and the voice of the
turtle is heard in our land.” Spring is an excellent proof
that things are not always as they appear. If we had never
witnessed the rebirth of the earth in the springtime and only
saw the cold dreariness of winter we could assume that it
would always be so. If we had never seen the dawn with the
sun rising as a ball of fire out of the east but only observed
the dead of night in darkness so dense that it almost can
be felt we might assume that it would always be so.
From our own personal experience we know not to judge the
day by its first few hours, and we understand that regardless
of how cold and bleak the winter is, that with the coming
of spring the earth will come to life with grass and flowers
and the singing of the birds.
Spring is slow in coming when compared to the dawn, for one
happens every day and the other only once each year. There
is a time coming to this earth that will make the most glorious
springtime seem like an Antarctic winter by comparison and
it is slow in coming by man’s standard of time. This does
not mean that it won’t happen and we are very foolish if we
judge things as they appear to us.
Peter tells us
about those who would say, ”Where is the promise of His coming?
For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as
they were from the beginning of the creation.”
Peter also, a few verses later, declared, ”But the day of
the Lord will come as a thief in the night.” The lesson is
clear to those who have ears to hear. The sin and wickedness
– the sickness and sorrow – the threat of war and the fear
of economic collapse will not always continue. Just because
it has been this way for as long as we can remember is no
proof it will always be so.
There is a Godly springtime coming when ”the dead in Christ
shall arise and we which are alive and remain shall be caught
up,” and if we want to be a part of that glorious new age
we had better be preparing for it now.
The farmer who doesn’t prepare for spring during the winter
months is caught short.
Jesus told us
that when we see the fig tree shoot forth that we know that
summer is nigh at hand. He then adds a word of warning saying,
”So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know
ye that the Kingdom of God is very nigh at hand.”
We have witnessed ”these things” of which Jesus spoke, come
to pass including the budding of God’s fig tree, ”Israel.”
”Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night
is far spent, the day is at hand.” The return of Christ and
the ushering in of God’s glorious springtime when ”the desert
shall rejoice and blossom as the rose,” is upon us. Let us
then rejoice and be exceeding glad and prepare to meet Him
when He comes.
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