The Christian’s Eternal Spring in Christ (Updated)

According to our local weather men, the spring season has officially arrived.

Of course, this is different from the vernal equinox, which will happen on Monday, March 20, 2023.

Regardless of whether it is the meteorological spring or the vernal equinox, those of us in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles know not to put away our winter clothes or plant new flowers during the months of March and April.

And all we have to do is take a quick look back at our area’s track record within the last decade or so for snow in late March & April to keep us from getting out the storage totes and buying potting soil.

In 2017, we experienced a rare late April snowfall & blizzard.

On March 26, 2016, we celebrated a white Easter.

And in 2009, we experienced blizzard conditions March 26–28.

As long as we live on planet earth, we will continue to have more unpredictable and unstable weather.

It is just a fact of life.

Would you like to hear some super-fantastic news, though?

While you cannot control the weather, if you are a Christian, you have the incredible blessing of enjoying an eternal spring in Christ!

What do I mean by “an eternal spring in Christ”?

Let me explain.

One of the most wonderful parts of spring is that—after a cold, harsh winter—new life starts springing up everywhere!

Multiple shades of green and brightly colored flowers (daffodils are among the first to appear) explode onto our landscapes, and the sounds of singing birds fill the atmosphere—from sunup to sundown.

Simply put, spring represents the symphony of new life.

In my opinion, there is no better place in God’s Word to see and hear this symphony of new life than right smack-dab in its middle:

“For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been
heard in our land.
The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth
their fragrance.”
—Song of Songs 2:11-13

That’s right.

This passage comes from the Song of Songs, a.k.a the Song of Solomon or the Canticles. 

The Song of Songs is one of the most neglected and misunderstood books in the Bible.

Just ask my mother-in-law.

When I gave her a copy of my first book, His Banner over Me Is Pursuing Love: An intimate, Interactive Study of the Song of Solomon, Chapters 1 and 2, she said, “The Song of Solomon is the only book in the Bible I can’t figure out why God put there!”

For centuries, Christians have been dazed and confused by this metaphor-laden masterpiece nestled in the heart of God’s Word.

And for years, I was one of those Christians.

Until, that is, Christ opened my eyes to the divine romance contained within its eight chapters.

There have been many great studies based on the Song’s literal interpretation, which celebrates love in an earthly marriage.

But you may be surprised to learn (as I was) that the Song’s allegorical, or symbolic, interpretation is its most ancient.

In fact, Rabbi Akiva, a renowned Jewish sage, defended the Song and was instrumental in its inclusion in the Tanakh.

His intense passion for the book was expressed when he declared,

“Heaven forbid that any man in Israel ever disputed that the Song of Songs is holy. For the whole world is not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Writings are holy and the Song of Songs is the holy of holies (Mishnah Yadayim 3:5).”*

The Song of Songs is a gorgeous moving picture of the ultimate love story between Christ and His bride, the church.

In Song 2:11 (see above passage), Jesus is telling His bride that the winter rains of the Law—the system of works-based righteousness—is over!

The super-fantastic news of the gospel of the grace of God is that no one has to earn the righteousness that God so freely gives! (Acts 20:24; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21).

Jesus really did pay it all! (John 19:30).

All we have to do is believe in (into) Him in order to enjoy the eternal spring of faith-based righteousness (John 3:16; Rom. 5:17).

Christian, you are the righteousness of God in Christ—His gorgeous bride—at absolutely no cost to you.

Forever.

And nothing you could ever do or not do will change this incredible truth.

And that, my friends, is the best news you’ll ever hear and believe!

So, what are you waiting for?

Why don’t you go ahead and acknowledge that you no longer live under the cold winter rains of the Law and celebrate your eternal spring—your free gift of righteousness in Christ!

*Quotation from Mishnah Yadayim 3:5, translated by Herbert Danby, The Mishnah.Ox ford: Clarendon Press, 1933. As quoted in Barry L. Bandstra, Reading the Old Testament, 4th Edition. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage, 2009; page 418.

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If you enjoyed this post, I invite you to check out all of my books and my video series based on my first devotional.