Give me a word, Lord: REVIVED

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

2 Corinthians 4:16 So we do not lose heart. ThoughSo we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

It is late February, and it is the time of year that this girl starts to get spring fever. For a few months now, the skies have been gray, the trees are bare, and the grass is brown except for the few rye grass fields sprinkled in the landscape. But last week, as I drove to see my patients, I noticed that the trees were beginning to bud out. Little tiny leaves are beginning to form, and before we know it, the trees will be lush and green, and the brown grass will be replaced by new spring growth. The birds are singing the joyful praises of the changing seasons, and I’m already planning our spring flower beds and vegetable garden. Spring truly is the best time of the year. It is out with the old and in with the new, and it’s a time to renew and revive.

Last week we had revival services at our church. If there was ever a time on God’s green earth that we need a revival, that time is now! But how? Well, folks, it’s kind of like the arrival of spring. For true revival, it’s out with the old and in with the new. We must get rid of all that junk that is getting in the way of our relationship with Christ and preventing us from sharing the gospel. Yep, I said it. We have to get rid of the junk.

I’m sure my junk looks different from yours, but I guarantee that we are all hanging on to some sort of junk that we need to throw out like yesterday’s trash. This could look like pride, greed, guilt, anger, or just plain old busyness of life. We get so busy making a living that we forget to live. I learned a long time ago that life is not about living to work, but rather it is about working to live. I love my job. God blessed me with a great career, but my job is what I do. It’s not who I am. We must get rid of the junk, no matter what it looks like. What kind of junk are you clinging to today?

I know that I am a child of God, and as such, I must remember that He reigns over my life and not the other way around. I mess up every day, but praise God for the renewal of life. Just when winter looks the most bleak, and we think that spring will never come…new life begins. And just when we are at in what seems like our darkest day, and we can’t see the light…the Light breaks through the darkness, and we too are renewed when we ask Christ to take hold of the reins and reign in our lives. Yes, we all need to be revived. Thank God for revival.

It is time for a great revival, Peeps. Today, I encourage you to renew your relationship with Christ, and then get out there and share the Good News!