EditorialMargaret Brown

Welcome to our Winter/Spring edition of News and Views!

At our church’s monthly prayer breakfast this month, our church secretary, in leading the prayer time brought thoughts of springtime to our attention. Spring is a time traditionally, here in Scotland, for spring cleaning when our houses are thoroughly cleaned from top to bottom and any unwanted items are thrown out as rubbish or given away. So spring is a time for cleansing and renewal, but also for planting and for new life. Like me, I’m sure you will be looking forward to better, warmer weather. A few weeks ago we had almost two weeks of no rain, only sunshine and it was warmer, but this week the wintry weather has returned with a vengeance and it has become really cold again. However we are still looking forward to spring, even if it means work for us.

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Of course spring is also the time when we celebrate the most important event in our calendar – Easter. We think of the cross and the death of our Saviour, but Hallelujah! He is risen and very much alive. What a wonderful reminder we have of new life, cleansing and planting in the Easter story.

Spring is a time of new life. We are thrilled when we see the shoots pushing through the hard ground, the buds on the trees, the little birds building their nests etc. It’s exciting to watch all this new life and activity bursting forth after the hibernation of winter. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we are reminded that, ‘if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God Who reconciled us to Himself through Christ.’ Our once dead souls, dead because of our sin, are now alive in Christ and evidence of this new restoration is seen in our lives. We still have to contend with our old nature but we must look upon ourselves as being new creatures in Christ and available to Him for His purposes.

Spring is a time of cleansing and renewal. Just as the spring rains wash and refresh the earth so we need to be refreshed and made clean. In the psalms one of David’s best loved songs is Psalm 51 where he prays, Cleanse me…….and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow….. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me……Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me’ (Psalm 51:7;10;12). We need to come often to the Lord and ask for His forgiveness, His cleansing, His renewal of body, mind and soul, His healing, His sustaining power in our lives. This is available to us through Jesus Christ Who gave His life for our salvation and rose from the dead to give us the sure hope of eternal life.

Spring is a time for planting. Those of us with gardens are watching for the right time to plant seeds which will grow into beautiful flowers and bring colour and pleasure in the months to come. Jesus said, ‘Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds’ (John 12:24). For the seed to be productive it has to shrivel up and die, otherwise there will be no plant. Further on in John’s gospel we are told, ‘You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last’ (John 15:16). How can we be fruitful? By dying daily to ourselves and allowing the Lord to choose us for the works He has already prepared for us to do, we will be good seed and produce lasting fruit. Another way of being fruitful is to be obedient to our Lord’s command to love one another and to be His witnesses, showing and telling others the gospel story.

In this edition of N&V you can read of women who have been made new in Christ, and who are dying to themselves so that they can live fruitful lives for their Lord and Saviour. Read their stories of love and testimony and give thanks to God for the blessing He is giving to others through their lives.

Margaret Brown