Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Saturday, April 30, 2024 – Holy Saturday
By John Eldridge
Surprise
Read: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” (NKJV)
I love Springtime; but then I love all the seasons. The earth warms and all the plants and trees begin to come alive again. All different shades of green begin to appear.
My wife Phyllis and I have, through the years, planted a number of perennial flowers. We love to watch their progress as they shoot up through the mulch, coming out a little more each day until there is a Hosta or a new flower. It’s all a miracle! A miracle that unfolds right before our eyes.
My Methodist minister father once preached a sermon about the Surprise Lily. The Surprise Lily is called that because there is nothing there until one day the Surprise Lily is suddenly a gorgeous flower.
Lent is like that. Slowly we begin to “wake up” to the coming of Spring and soon know the joy of the Gospel reining in on us. Also a miracle. Then comes Holy Week and God’s greatest surprise – the Resurrection of Christ. Easter then comes and we celebrate.
Prayer
Help me, Lord, to see the miracle of Spring, when the world comes alive after a season of sleep. Help me to know and feel that I am a special child of God. Amen.
