“Spring-ing Forward”

March 1, 2023

I don’t know about you, but I have been enjoying glimpses of nice/warmer weather here and there!  I am eager to start taking my children outside to play.  It always a joy to hear them laughing and to see them running and wanting to play a good game of, “Tag, you’re it!”  In just a couple of weeks, we will “Spring Forward” with a time change.  This means that it will no longer
be getting dark early and it helps the days feel a little bit longer, doesn’t it? There something about the sun going down later in the day that gets me ready for spring and summer weather.

This is a time of year that also draws me outside more and more.  When I am outside breathing the fresh air in warm weather, it allows me to connect with God in the outdoors of God’s creation.  Not that I can’t experience God in the winter months outdoors, but there is something about being outside in the warmer weather that makes a difference for me.  I can comfortably go
on prayer walks, a bike ride, a hike, etc.

The term “Spring Forward” is often associated with the time change each year around the beginning of spring.  However, I was thinking about how this term can also be connected to our discipleship.  Sometimes we are hesitant to do what God is calling us to do.  Maybe we need to make a phone call, write a letter, send that email, pray for that person, etc. etc.  If you’re anything like me, you can easily put off things that potentially God is calling you to do. When we keep doing this, it becomes easier to ignore those moments where God is calling us.  This is my experience at least.  What we may need in those instances is for the Holy Spirit to help us get up and “Spring us Forward” into what God is calling us to do.  Remember Moses?  He had a ton of excuses on why he wasn’t the right person to go and rescue the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.  However, God sent him and God knew Moses could be the one to help do this.

Maybe a reminder for us today is that yes, we believe in God, but remember that God also believes in you!  What is it that God may be calling you to on this day?  Who is it that God has put on your heart?  What neighbor of yours can you go and love?  What stranger will find the reflection of Christ in you? What is a next step you can make in your discipleship?  May we not only “Spring Forward” with our clocks this month, but may we also “Spring Forward” in our discipleship.

Amen.

Jake