Welcome to the Merry Month of May

Welcome to the Merry Month of May. Many of us look forward to and consider this our favorite month of the year. Who doesn’t like longer, warmer days? Who doesn’t welcome the bright green of leaves and lawn, the colorful spring flowers and the cheerful songs of the newly arrived birds? Of course, every day will not be perfect, crab grass and weeds will arise in the lawn and someone may nibble or trample your favorite flower. And not every day will be sunny and warm. Still, May carries with it the essence of Hope. The feeling of having endured what is a tedius, if not difficult, period of hardship.
Hope is the medicine we all need for life. Even as winter is not without its occasional sparkling days and its unique beauty, life is not continuous trials and difficulties. There are times of pleasure, love shared and peace, mixed in with the times of sorrow, loneliness and anxiety The glue that holds it all together is Hope. It is a word found throughout the Bible and should be considered one of the greatest gifts a loving God can bestow upon us. Seemingly, now, ever more important, as we read of the enormous toll that suicide is having on our society. As well, as we watch our society gravitate toward the universally pessimistic psychology that seems to have infused so much around us. Where is the Hope?
Perhaps this is the call of the Great Commission for our day. It appears that as God blesses us, we forget to say thank You. ”Go tell it on the mountain” that Jesus Christ is our Hope; and, if we give Him our gratitude and put our trust in Him, Spring – everlasting Spring - awaits us.
Tell someone about what lies ahead, today. Let your words be full of hope. Tell them about Jesus Christ - the ultimate Hope.                  Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Psalm 42:5                                                                                                                                   For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.                                                                                              Song of Solomon 2:11-12