Having some time off work over the Easter week, I thought I’d catch up on one of those jobs I’d been meaning to do but kept putting off. A wooden bench in the garden was suffering from two years of the weather, and needed some treatment to protect it from the elements – in other words to restore it to good condition.
So I bought some oil to treat it with (Rustin’s “Danish Oil” if you’re interested) and duly applied that to the wood. It says on the tin that the oil penetrates deep into the wood in order to be effective. It also tells me that after the first coating I need to apply another coat of oil at regular intervals to maintain its effectiveness – or to put it another way, it needs topping up.
It’s funny how an ordinary, unexciting task can lead your mind down a completely different track……..
We have just celebrated Easter, when we remember that Jesus died for our sins and rose again: he did this to restore our relationship with God – we share in that by personally accepting Jesus’s sacrifice for us; accepting that He paid the price for our sins.
This then led me to think - as I watched the oil soaking into the wood – that our life as Christians is based on the word of God, which Hebrews 4:12 tells us “penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
And whilst the decision to become a Christian may be a single event in our life, to be effective as God’s people we need continual topping up spiritually – by reading the Bible, and through teaching, prayer and worship: this helps us, in the words of Galatians 5:25 to “keep in step with the spirit.”
You may find my image of the garden bench rather odd, but I couldn’t help making this connection. Just as the events of that first Easter were a one-off act to restore our relationship with God, they were just the start of the Christian church. In the same way, our individual decision to follow Jesus is a fantastic “first coating,” but needs to be followed up with regular inputs of God’s word, prayer and worship, so that our faith penetrates right through our life and helps give us the strength to deal with whatever life throws at us.
And at the moment life is throwing a lot of uncertainty - maybe fear - at us. May Jesus’s triumph at Easter give us the strength and hope to look to the future with confidence.
God bless you - Rod Sillence.
Thine be the glory risen conquering Son, endless is the victory Thou o’er death has won;
angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away, kept the folded grave clothes where the body lay.
Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son, endless is the victory Thou o'er death has won
Lo Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb; lovingly He greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
let the church with gladness hymns of triumph sing, for her Lord now liveth; death has lost its sting
Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son, endless is the victory Thou o'er death has won
No more we doubt Thee, glorious Prince of Life; life is nought without Thee; aid us in our strife;
make us more than conquerors, through Thy deathless love;
bring us safe through Jordan to Thy home above:
Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son, endless is the victory Thou o'er death has won
Edmond Budry (1854-1932)