I love winter!
 I love everything about it. The snow, the cold, the biting wind and the brutal wind chills. I love fireplaces and blankets, good coffee and curling up with a great book while the snow and wind beat against the windows. But even I will admit a longing for warmer days, a desire to see something fresh and new and green growing from the cold, brown earth.
Working in a church affords me the unique opportunity to view the changing of the seasons before they actually happen. No sooner do we wrap up our final Christmas service than our worship arts director begins to give us glimpses of the Easter season! The promise of something new, something unexpected, something we’ve never done before, something that lures us all forward through our winter exhaustion.
What about our walk with the Lord? What season are you in? I would imagine that some of us are experiencing a winter of the soul. There can be times in our lives when we simply don’t want to learn anything new. I will admit to raising my face to the heavens and crying out “Enough! I don’t want to stretch and grow anymore! I want to wrap myself in the blanket of spiritual slumber and wait out the storm.”
But into each winter, a little spring must fall. And just around the corner, I catch a glimmer of the Son. The warmth of the Holy Spirit beckons. I’ve spent time in winter slumber, perhaps healing and resting, but my limbs long to stretch again, to reach for something new.
In Colossians Chapter 3, God’s voice moves me to action.
So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ--that's where the action is. See things from his perspective. Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete.
Colossians 3: 2&10 (The Message)
New is good! God tells us to “Look up! And be alert to what is going on around Christ.”
The season of winter serves an important purpose. It allows a weary world to rest, to store up its strength, to heal and prepare. The death of winter makes way for the incredible bursting life and energy of spring! As we move closer to Spring and the Easter season, examine closely the spiritual work winter has been doing in your soul. Take a deep breath and throw off the old clothes you’ve been bundled up in. Throw them in the fire and get dressed up in your Easter best! Throw open the windows and the doors and grab tight to your Father’s hand. I can’t wait to see where He leads us this spring!
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