A Lover's Call

Beauty

It’s the time of spring, colours are fresh and bright,

Darkness and gloom have given way to dancing light.

These lines are full of life, light, beauty, freedom, hope and joy. There is beauty all around, as the vivid colours of spring are not shy at all, in bursting forth and showing themselves, as the God of all Nature is praised. Spring is filled with the miracle of life, new birth, and new growth in plants and animals alike. The Bible has many examples of pictures, lovely pictures about the season of spring. I invite you to view two of them.

The first is an intimate conversation between two lovers, as captured in Song of Solomon 2: 10 – 13. My beloved spoke and said to me, Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me. What a beautiful, bountiful image we have before us. What makes it even more fascinatingly wonderful, is the brevity of the verses. What do I mean? The images we are seeing are of spring and with the use of only a few captured snapshots, we have the full picture of spring in all her beauty. Here are the captions:-

Flowers are seen

Doves are heard cooing

Fruit of the fig tree are developing

Fragrances of blossoming vines are smelt.

These four brief images are enough to permeate our senses and draw us into the season of spring, giving us a true and complete picture of spring. We know it is spring and we too want to leave our inside places, our places of gloom, emptiness, lethargy and resignation, to go with our Lover, to explore and live. Our spirits are lifted, our hearts are free, our minds are unchained and we want green pastures again. Yes, we want our spiritual senses to be activated again. We want to see and know the fresh, bright colours of one, whose darkness and gloom have given way to the dancing, joyful light of faith and love and peace. Wherever Jesus is, there is life, for He is the Life. Wherever Jesus is, there is light, for He is the Light. Wherever Jesus is, there is spring, for He gives New Birth.

Brevity

Today’s your time of spring, don’t let it pass you by,

Your winter’s over, on the wings of faith fly.

The second picture about spring comes from Hosea, God’s shepherd and prophet, to God’s unrepentant children. If the understanding of the word brevity, leads us into thinking, briefness, shortness, conciseness, wisdom and promptness, then the brevity of Hosea’s words cannot be dismissed. Hosea is calling these wayward and stubborn children of God, who have felt and are feeling the judgment of Holy, Almighty Father God upon them, to turn back to God. God has made their lives to experience a harsh winter time and now the prophet is calling. There’s brevity in his calling and brevity in his timing. Hosea is telling the people that spring awaits them now, if they will return to the Lord, now. Now is their time to know the springtime life and this shepherd is doing all he can to help the people not to forfeit this present grace of forgiveness. His call is for them to come with him and return to God, now.

Will you and I hear the brevity in the prophet’s call, as he is speaking to us also? Will we hear that our winter can be over right now and that we can live the life of the spring showers, right now? May the Holy Spirit, so take us over, we will leave all and be led and taught in repentance. Here is Hosea 6: 1 – 3 ESV. Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.

Believe! Receive! Spring is before us right now.