When Spring Comes

February and March have been quite full for me this year. February seems to come and go faster than I have time to enjoy it, and March tends to be the second winter for the area in which my husband and I live. This year, we've experienced more snowstorms that I can count or remember, and now it seems that spring is finally awakening in the northern parts of Pennsylvania. It is a reminder for me that life bursts forth from death. 

It is timely that Christians celebrate Easter in the beginning of the fullness of spring, because Easter is the reminder of the ultimate Life that burst forth from death. As the world celebrates the arrival of spring, Christians celebrate the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This resurrection is the heartbeat of Christianity, and it is the hope in the midst of the winters of life. 

It always amazes me how God gave us earthly realities and seasons to help us visually understand spiritual realities. Spring is a season of renewal and growth and life, and the resurrection of Jesus leads to such in the life of the Christian, only it is a renewal, growth, and life that hopes and points to the eternal. 

I was talking with a new friend the other day, and she was asking about how Christians view heaven. And something we started talking about in connection to heaven was death. Now, death is not something most people often allow themselves to think about, but when we do, the thoughts often come as the result of the death of someone we know and love. We are sad and we mourn, and in our hearts we know that death is not how things are supposed to be.

We know this in our hearts, and the Bible even talks about this in Ecclesiastes, "He (God) has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so he cannot find out what God has done from beginning to the end." (Ecclesiastes 3:11). 

God has placed eternity into man's heart - into our hearts. Death was not a part of the original design, but rather a result of the curse on mankind as a result of sin. No wonder death feels out of place! But death is not the end. God has placed eternity into man's heart - our hearts. Whether we realize it or not, we long for eternity. We long for spring to come, and for life to burst forth from death and for the end of troubles in this earthly life we are living. 

Our hearts are longing for the hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, because if Jesus truly rose from the dead, then life defeated death. His life defeated the curse of sin and the grave, and if we believe in him, we will have that resurrected life as well. 

This week the Church will celebrate and remember Holy Week, the week before Jesus' death and resurrection. In a week, we will celebrate Easter and the greatest event in history - the resurrection of Jesus Christ. My prayer for us today is that the resurrection would give us hope, and remind us that spring is coming, but it is an eternal spring in Jesus Christ.
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This post is in connection to a 31 day series called Longing For Home. If heaven is a topic that you're interested in, you can read more from the series.