Celebrating the Seasons of Life - Spring
Celebrating the Seasons of Life • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
Every year consists of four seasons here where we live. We have mentioned that God has ordered the seasons. When Noah and his family left the ark 12 and half months after the flood began, God said:
As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.”
Ever since then, God has made the seasons on the earth. In our spiritual lives, there are also seasons in which we go through.
For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
We have identified the spiritual Season of Fall as a time of reflecting what God has done and enjoying the bountiful harvest He has provided. We have identified the spiritual Season of Winter as a time of rest and further reflection of just how great and mighty is our God.
We come to the point in our study in which we perhaps long for the most. We have not even made it into the winter months and I am sure that some of us are already longing for the Spring.
The whole essence of the Christian life is the ability to attain new life. To be renewed and regenerated allowing the old to be gone and the new to come is one of the most beautiful experiences we can have on this side of heaven. The choices we make guide us in this process and keep us focused on Christ or they prevent us from having the best life possible. Our scripture today is an example of this very thing. We have one way that is blessed and one way that is not. As we experience the Spring of our spiritual seasons, we are reminded of what happens in the Springtime of the year. We celebrate newness, growth, and fruitfulness. Let us look closer at a very familiar Psalm in order to understand this better.
Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Notice first the role and renewal.
The Role and Renewal (Psalm 1:1-2)
The Role and Renewal (Psalm 1:1-2)
Right from the get go, we see there is a role to choose. We are created in the image of God and we have been given the ability to choose. Sometimes we choose wisely and other times we do not. Psalm 1:1 starts out with implication of choice: “Blessed is the person that . . .” makes a choice. The simple implied choice is to walk in the way of the Godly or the ungodly. Of course it does not spell it out exactly like that, but it gives an emphasis related to choice.
The first characteristic that is given is the what the person is if he or she chooses wisely. The wise person is blessed. Now there is a word that is used lots even in our modern day conversations. “How are you?” one might ask. To which a reply comes, “I am blessed.” What does that mean?
The Hebrew word is ashre and it means a state of well being. The person that is blessed is usually happy. Several other scriptures help indicate this. We studied Job last week and Job 5:17 says:
“Blessed is the man whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
There are couple uses of this word ashre in Proverbs as well:
Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,
the man who gains understanding,
Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord,
but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.
In addition to the word “blessed,” we three other words that are indicative of our choice. The first word is counsel.
We choose who we receive our counsel. A counselor is one that helps you think. Sometimes, a counselor will influence the way you think. Who influences you and your thinking?
Another word that is indicative to our choice is the word way. This is closely related to how one’s behavior gives them the way they are going. Is there one who influences your way or behavior?
The third word that comes into play here is the word seat. This is the idea of belonging or who you join in with and go along with or that which to be a part. We have the ability to choose to belong elsewhere.
Away from me, you evildoers,
that I may keep the commands of my God!
These three words also give us three aspects or degrees of departure for God by giving into the ways of the world. We can accept the world’s advice, give in to its ways, and adopting the most fatal of attitudes by becoming what the text calls a mocker or the King James calls a scorner.
The progression that scripture portrays with these three levels is quite alarming. First they become ungodly. They choose to cast off all fear and respect for God and His ways. They begin living in a way that is contrary to His way. They stop attending church services or participating in Bible studies. When that happens, they freely give into sin and break out into open rebellion against God. Before long, the person is engaged in the service of sin and Satan.
Matthew Henry summarized this progression by writing, “Omissions make way for commissions, and by these the heart is so hardened that at length they come to be scorners” or as the NIV says, mockers. In other words, the progression of the ungodly or wicked to sinners to mockers is such that they openly defy all that is sacred, scoff at anything religious or of the church and make fun of that which is sin.
God is in His grand design, gives us a way to prevent this by offering to us a set of His criteria. It is the opposite of what we just described. We can choose to be godly instead of wicked. We can be one that does good and adheres to the Word of God which in turn makes one more familiar with Him and His ways.
As for the deeds of men—
by the word of your lips
I have kept myself
from the ways of the violent.
God’s word gives us peace.
For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;
The person who is godly will not walk in counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. The godly person will separated, situated and saturated in the Word of God.
So how does one make that happen?
This is where the process of the spiritual spring season comes into play. The person that is blessed is the one that delights in the law of the Lord.
The Realization and Rebirth (Psalm 1:2)
The Realization and Rebirth (Psalm 1:2)
When we delight in the Law of the Lord, we are allowing it to come alive within us through the power of Christ. To delight in God’s word means we dive into it by studying it and allowing it to penetrate into our very being.
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Watch this progression. We dive into God’s word and it saturates us. It smooths out our rough edges and gives us insight into the love of God and how we should love it other. It provides direction and not drudgery when we study it and follow it with a willing heart.
God’s word becomes a seed planted within us that comes forth.
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
The word of truth is Jesus. We learn about Jesus through God’s Word. As we do, we are given opportunity to decide what we want to do with God’s word and with Jesus. God’s word says we are sinners and we are in need of a Savior.
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
We are given the opportunity to experience a regeneration in where the old is taken away and replaced with the new.
Again the familiar verse we quote so often comes to mind:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Just like the seeds that mature into flowers every spring, the restoration and rebirth in our lives bring forth beauty and as the Psalmist describes in our text, delight. The action that comes with delight is meditate.
The Hebrew word for meditate is hagah. It means to murmur or read aloud. It has the connotation of pondering over something. Whenever I have meditated over anything, I have grown in that process. It makes me better.
The Springtime is a time when things grow. As one enters into a spiritual springtime, he or she is becomes that which is like the tree described in Psalm 1:3.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Look at the rendering and return.
The Rendering and Return (Psalm 1:3)
The Rendering and Return (Psalm 1:3)
Rendering means to cause to be or become. When this tree is planted by the stream or river as it is in some translations, it is done so by a power from above.
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
Did you catch that last sentence? “They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.” Springtime certainly is a display of the Lord’s splendor. Our spiritual springtime is a time of display of the Lord’s splendor. When was the last time that God began a new work in you?
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.
The rendering is planted and then it is placed. This beautiful Psalm tells us that the tree is placed along a river bank. The river flows abundantly and supplies the nutrients needed for strength. In the spiritual sense, that river is grace! God places us right where His grace flows abundantly and supplies the nutrients we need to grow in Him!
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
The rendering produces a return that is demonstrated in this passage, The New Living Translation puts it this way:
You’re a tree replanted in Eden,
bearing fresh fruit every month,
Never dropping a leaf,
always in blossom.
All of that comes about , however, because of the tree’s root system. Let us look a bit deep to the rooting and the river.
The Rooting and the River (Psalm 1:3; Colossians 2:6-7)
The Rooting and the River (Psalm 1:3; Colossians 2:6-7)
Roots from an oak tree will spread out as wide as the canopy of that tree. The tap root in many cases will go down very deep then become entwined with other root systems that build and provide nutrients to other oak trees growing in the area.
We can illustrate this a bit further by adding to our text a couple of verses from the New Testament.
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
When our spiritual springtime takes place, we are rooted so we can ramble on. We are designed to walk in faith in Christ. So to walk in Christ, we have to be rooted in Christ. We are not going to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, but rather, we are going to walk in the counsel of God Himself as He reveals Himself to us in Christ.
We are rooted to ramble and we are rooted to be robust.
Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
When our roots grow down and our lives are built on Christ, we will bear fruit and have leaves that are everlasting. Psalm 1:3 says the leaves will not wither. That means everlasting. If everlasting and always producing fruit is not robust, I do not know what robust would be!
But wait…there is more! We are also rooted to reap. The last phrase in Psalm 1:3 in my paraphrase says, “whatever that person does, they will prosper.” We are rooted to overflow. We are rooted to abound. We are rooted to be great!
We are rooted to be solid, sturdy and sound. We are rooted to spill out.
All of this comes about from how we are planted. In your spiritual springtime, are you being planted in a way that you can receive godly counsel, continually being built up in Christ, and experiencing His overflow in your life?
If not, I would invited you to experience spring right now. Allow a rebirth to occur in your life. Say yes to Jesus Christ and allow Him to regenerate a new life in Him. Maybe you have been a Christian for a long time and you desire a new work to begin in you. Maybe you need a spiritual spring planting in your life. It can happen. Ask the Lord to show you something more!