The Bible talks a lot about death and life. It also talks about the fact that we must die to be reborn – in other words, a surrender of self leads to the ability of the Lord to do something in us we can’t do for ourselves. When we’re in control it ultimately leads away from life. When we surrender our lives to God then we find that new life erupts in us.

I sometimes wonder if in creation God was trying to illustrate this for us. Certainly, Jesus pointed to nature many times to show how God worked. Whether it was to the sparrows or to the fig tree or to the vineyard Jesus spoke of nature and the rules of nature as an indication of how God works.

As the ice and snow melted away and the soil thawed this spring I was remembering again how each spring the trees, shrubs, and flowers that have appeared quite dead are reborn. The shoots push the warming soil aside to reach up into the cool air towards the sunshine and the leaves break out of the small buds on the tree branches. Yes, spring is about rebirth.

This past weekend we were in the garden. Now we’ve been cultivating our tomatoes, squash, and peppers for some time now. They are in the garden behind the fence to protect them from the hares that live in the neighbourhood. But it is time to add some annuals.

Because we started our plants early – thank you Philip – we are already seeing some of the early signs of their fruit. The Red Peppers are emerging as our tomatoes. The flowers are out on the squash plants and if even half of them get to be fruit we’ll have excess!

Spring is a glorious time and a great reminder of how God brings life to what appears dead. So don’t fear winter – in your garden or in your life.