I love walking around my yard in the spring and seeing all the new life bursting forth – my flowers and my bushes. I have to admit I was surprised when I looked at one of my plants that I had cut way back last fall. Just days before, only dead looking stubble was all I saw. But when I started to walk by them recently tiny green growth was poking through those dead looking stubs. They were alive!
John 12:24 says, “Except a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.” That’s the way it is in our own lives. If we want to produce fruit in our life we also need to die – die to sin – die to self – and walk in the newness of life that we have in Christ. But before we can do this, we first have to realize that we are dead IN sin and have no hope of eternal life until we trust the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. When we do this we become alive in Christ. An old chorus by John W. Peterson says:
New life in Christ, abundant and free! What glories shine, what joys are mine, What wondrous blessings I see! My past with its sin, the searching and strife, Forever gone–there’s a bright new dawn! For in Christ I have found new life!
From death to life – that’s what Jesus can do for you.