The Sap Still Rises

Scripture: Jeremiah 31:31, 33 (ESV)

^{31 “}Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah . . .

³³ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

 

Devotion:

            The following is from my morning devotional:

“They have taken the Lord out of his tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him,” Mary Magdalene said, and we can say this with her in times of doubt and questioning. Then there’s that last glorious chapter of Saint Luke, where Jesus says, “Why are you so perturbed? Why do questions arise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself. Touch me and see.” Yes, sometimes it is most surely an exercise of faith for us to see Christ, especially in each other. But it is through such exercise that we grow, and the joy of our calling assures us we are on the right path. Most certainly, it is easier to believe now that the sun warms us, and we know that buds will appear on the sycamore trees in the wasteland across the street, that life will spring out of the dull clods of that littered park. There are wars and rumors of war, poverty and plague, hunger, and pain. Still, the sap is rising, again there is the resurrection of spring, God’s continuing promise to us that he is with us always, with his comfort and joy, if we will only ask.

Source: Dorothy Day: Selected Writings

Prayer:

            Lord, we lift our voices in praise to you this day. No matter how cold and bitter the winter of our lives has been, you promise to come bringing the new life of spring into our lives. May we learn to wait for you to bring your new life into our lives. Help us to hear and to believe in the promise of this Lenten season. That even after death there is new life in Christ. Amen.