Green is the color of Spring: vibrant and lush, full of life and promise. And so it is again this year. The leaves came out slowly, warm days interspersed with cold ones, making the opening delight last longer. I love it, this is my favorite time of the year.
We are also witnessing a new Spring in the life of one of our friends, Dan, a former drug addict and wild young man. He has been forced into a corner by his own bad choices and is now thinking about God.
In fact, the other day he came and told me about a double God-sighting in his life. His money disappeared and this forced him to stay home for the day, during which time he had a good talk with his estranged wife. And at the end of that good conversation, he looked over at the TV and there under it was his missing money! The fact that he recognized these as God sightings means He sees God cares for him.
This is an indication of the effectiveness of sharing about God sightings as part of our witnessing, leading to insights of how God loves the individual personally.
Today he indicated that He has either crossed the line into the Kingdom or is in the process. His first question confirmed his forward movement, “What do I do now?” A good question. What would you say to that?
He needs more revelation, so, get into the Word. I told him to start in Matthew and read at least a chapter a day. At that pace he will read the whole New Testament in nine months.
He took the next step on his own, asking about going to church and showing interest in a small group. Another sign of new life.
This conversation reminded me of a picture of a field with some stripes of verdant green, others of shorter yellow grass. What made the difference? Fertilizer. Yellow grass had little nutrition, while the green was well fed.
This is a picture of the Christian life: if we are in the Word regularly, our lives can be verdant, growing, fruitful. Without it we will be yellow, weak and fruitless. The choice is up to us.
How are you doing with being daily in the Word, feeding yourself well, being fruitful for Jesus? I often ask people if they have a regular quiet time (many don’t) and if they do why. Most answer that they should, or it is the right thing to do.
But one young man answered, “Because I want to know God better!” Now there’s a high-level motivation which gives his quiet time focus and energy. May that be ours, leading us to spending time with Him every day.
