There they’ve been. Quite dead for the winter. Dried up, crusty stalks in my garden. They are naked and sad or cut right down to the old mulch surface.

But then spring comes. The earth warms. And the green begins once again to unfurl. Right there like a bride gently shaking the folds from her gown, the leaves open.

Life.

And when life springs out of death, it is a perfect whisper of what God did on Easter.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:16-17)

Jesus, who was quite dead and buried, was raised from the dead. He’s alive today. And He offers us life too.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

So when you see spring buds, let them be a reminder of the new life God offers you. Because He loves you.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)