Salvation Sound - April 2009

Posted on April 8, 2009

A holiday? - a time for celebration? New life- the birth of Spring? Is it a time for solemn reflection on Jesus' death? Or joy because of His resurrection. It is all of these things.--

The name of Easter is derived from the name of an Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn.

In the early days, bonfires were lit on the tops of hills on Easter Eve to celebrate the arrival of spring. Coloured eggs represent the sunlight of springtime. They are believed to have been introduced into Europe during the Crusades, but through the Lenten season of forty days, no eggs were eaten; so they were very much enjoyed on Easter Sunday. Myths from some ancient cultures state that the universe originated from inside an egg.

The children (and adults) in our days prefer chocolate eggs; along with the Easter bunny and chicks, they are the symbols of new life and fertility. We have family gatherings; eat meals together. We have special foods, the most popular being the hot cross-buns.

A new cycle of life is beginning - nature has received the signal, trees and plants dormant through the winter months have now the energy to break forth. Spring, the season of a million miracles is upon us. We too seem to wake up from a kind of hibernation. We begin to be more mobile, we want to tend the garden, or go for a walk.

We want to renew our faith at this most important festival of Easter.

The Easter lily is white and the symbol of the Resurrection - the daffodil carries a star at the base of the flower to remind us of the Star of Bethlehem, it carries a trumpet to declare that Christ has risen from the dead; and the long green leaves supporting it represent the Sword of the Spirit.

So Spring is here --'O Lord how excellent is thy name in all the earth' Psalm 8:1, the season when every Christian needs to find a place of renewal.

Look into our hearts, deepen ant develop ourselves. The cross means many things to many people - to some it is just an ornament to wear around the neck, or attach to a lapel.

To those who love the Lord it is a reminder of that dark day of long ago; the agony that was beyond our comprehension, the horror that surrounded the death of Jesus. It is also a reminder that at the resurrection our Lord left the cross and pointed our way to heaven. He gives us quietness, hope, faith, and peace. So that we know as we grow older we will feel the glow of the love of God warming our very souls.

“Even to your old age I will be the same: when you are grey haired I will sustain you.” Isaiah 46 : 4. Moffatt.

Source: Focus, April 2009