Reflections by the Pond
July 2, 2003

Life!

It is the time of bountiful, burgeoning life. Spring is past, and we are well into the summer. Warm temperatures and humid air have joined to cause brown things to turn green and green things to grow profusely. The old winter picture of skeletal oak trees is far removed, and has been replaced by a dense green tapestry of new life.

For many in the animal kingdom it is the time of mating. Squirrels are chasing each other, robins and mourning doves are making goo-goo eyes at each other and going into amorous contortions, making complete fools of themselves.

Still others in the animal kingdom are already enjoying the fruits of their earlier mating. Baby blue jays squawk in the high branches of the trees and wobble-legged fawns investigate a new and strange world. And it won't be long before the baby wrens make their entrance into the world.

We are surrounded by explosive, extravagant life.

Of course not all things possessing life are necessarily pleasant. Along with the beans and potatoes and onions grow the weeds; along with the new leaves on the trees grow the insidious strands of climbing poison oak; along with the pretty and benign animals come those that devour and destroy.

But for the one who knows Christ personally--for the one who begins and ends each day with the Spirit dwelling inside--it is all a precious gift.

I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord;
I have no good besides You."
The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You support my lot.
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.
I will bless the Lord who has counseled me;
Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.
I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
Psalm 16:2,5-8,11 nasbu

Each day of life with Christ is just one more opportunity to praise His name. Every day with Him is simply another chance to shout up our songs of thanksgiving. We are filled with life!--His life!--and that life supplies everything we will ever need.

This life is not just breath, but the very wind of the Spirit; it is not just possessions, but bounty poured out of heaven's vast storehouses; it is not just health, but life everlasting. Life in Christ is life to its full.

How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;
And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.
For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.
Psalm 36:7-9 nasbu