The season of Easter and of new life is upon us. As we enter May the time for Spring cleaning, garden planting, and lawn mowing is upon us. The new life all around us in Spring often means a lot of new work. When we begin to lament the labor before us we can look back to the short, cold, dark days of winter when we longed for all of this. That work is the cost of freedom from what once held us indoors!
New life in Christ is like that too. As we celebrate the resurrection, and the gift of new life that Jesus gives to us. When we feel lost and overwhelmed by sin we long for freedom and new life. When we are given those gifts suddenly the exercise of that freedom is transformed within our hearts into something that sounds like work.
In some way all of life could be seen as work. What is the difference between being excited to cook for the family and having to get dinner out of the way? What makes fixing up one car a restoration, and fixing another a nuisance?
What transforms something we might enjoy into “work?” The answer is desire. What does your heart truly desire? Often the answer is not the same as the stories we tell ourselves. To truly desire something is not simply to feel want, but to be willing to seek after a thing whatever the cost. As God’s people, indwelt by His spirit, part of the gift of new life we have in Christ is a new desire to follow Jesus. We do not simply “want” His kingdom to come, we desire to live in his coming kingdom. We seek after Him, and work as needed to bring that kingdom we long to see. These are the hallmarks of new life.
In these seasons of Spring and Easter, seasons of new life, I pray you find yourself in a season of new life by faith in the life-giving son of God.
