Our Daily Bread devotional, May 25, 2016 – When the Woods Wake Up

Topic: When the Woods Wake Up [May 25, 2016]

I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die. John 11:25

Through cold, snowy winters, the hope of spring sustains those of us who live in Michigan. May is the month when that hope is rewarded. The transformation is remarkable. Limbs that look lifeless on May 1 turn into branches that wave green leafy greetings by month’s end. Although the change each day is imperceptible, by the end of the month the woods in my yard have changed from gray to green.

God has built into creation a cycle of rest and renewal. What looks like death to us is rest to God. And just as rest is preparation for renewal, death is preparation for resurrection.

I love watching the woods awaken every spring, for it reminds me that death is a temporary condition and that its purpose is to prepare for new life, a new beginning, for something even better. “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24).

While pollen is a springtime nuisance when it coats my furniture and makes people sneeze, it reminds me that God is in the business of keeping things alive. And after the pain of death, He promises a glorious resurrection for those who believe in His Son.

Read: John 11:14-27, Bible in a Year: 1 Chronicles 25-27; John 9:1-23

Read these encouraging verses that remind us of the hope of resurrection: 1 Corinthians 15:35-58.

Share what you’ve learned from these verses in the comments


This message was written by Julie Ackerman Link  [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]

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