good Soil

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"[...] Have I been making a fair show in the flesh without having a corresponding inner life? Good growth takes place upwards and downwards at the same time. Am I rooted in sincere fidelity and love to Jesus? If my heart remains unsoftened and unfertilized by grace, the good seed may germinate for a season, but it must ultimately wither, for it cannot flourish on a rocky, unbroken, unsanctified heart. Let me dread a godliness as rapid in growth and as wanting in endurance as Jonah’s gourd; let me count the cost of being a follower of Jesus, above all let me feel the energy of his Holy Spirit, and then I shall possess an abiding and enduring seed in my soul. If my mind remains as obdurate as it was by nature, the sun of trial will scorch, and my hard heart will help to cast the heat the more terribly upon the ill-covered seed, and my religion will soon die, and my despair will be terrible; therefore, O heavenly Sower, plough me first, and then cast the truth into me, and let me yield thee a bounteous harvest"
- Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning devotion, January 11th

holding onto hope

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Spring is coming. It may be difficult to imagine, especially after yesterday, one of the record coldest days of the season, but it is coming.

I awoke early yesterday, before the sun had risen above the eastern trees. After it was glowing golden on the white blanket out the window, I was beginning to read Romans when I looked out at our front yard trees; small buds have appeared, a sign that they are waking from their winter slumber.

School has been cancelled in many places because of the cold, but I am accepting the buds as a sign of comfort that the winter, though exhaustively long to some, shall have its end.

In much the same way, I apply this to suffering in this life; hearing from my Pastor about Revelation which reveals the future laid up for me as a Christian has been as though gazing on the buds of the trees - a sign of hope. We endure winter's wrath now, but spring shall come.

We all tire of life at times; I am teaching myself to live by the precious words of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, which say,

"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing;

in everything give thanks;

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

It's cold, but spring shall come. Life is hard, but because of faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we have the hope of heaven. Endure a little longer; put your faith in Christ; hold onto hope.

Spring is coming.