Dear Cobham Park Church Family,
Immediately after our last snow, little green daffodil shoots began poking through the dead leaves and brown grass by my front porch. They are standing taller now in little clusters, like prophets announcing that winter’s days are numbered. And although it still doesn’t feel very warm, I’m sure that they will be soon be proven correct.
I only recently learned that daffodils are not native to America. They come from the predominantly spring flowering plants of a genus called “Narcissus”. These flowers were originally found in Southern Europe. Settlers later brought daffodils to Virginia in the seventeenth century, planting their bulbs here to remind them of their English farms. By the twentieth century, daffodils were growing wild across our state.
Daffodils have always reminded me of our role as Christians in this world. Chilly unbelief and spiritual death surround us like late winter. But just under the surface of our circumstances, God has planted bulbs of new creation. Our sins have been buried with Christ, and now we shall live in Him! Like daffodils, we Christians know that spring has sprung! By our faith and changed lives, we announce that this world’s days are numbered! Our hope isn’t based on the latest news, but on the good news of Jesus.
So, in Christ, stand tall and unashamed! Continue to bloom wherever God has planted you—even if you get a frosty reception from those who haven’t woken up yet. Draw life from the Holy Spirit living within you instead of how you happen to feel (our feelings can be as unpredictable as March weather). We are the first heralds of our returning King! Soon we will bloom with resurrection glory!
“…live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of people who are crooked and stubborn. Shine out among them like beacon lights, holding out to them the Word of Life. Then when Christ returns,
how glad I will be that my work among you was so worthwhile.”
—Philippians 2:15b-16 (The Living Bible)
In His Love,
Pastor Keith
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