READ: PSALM 51; REVELATION 21:1-5

God can make all things new. That’s what the Bible tells us. It’s easy to believe, too, when it’s spring and everything is changing in the world around us. But it can be harder to see in fall and winter, when trees start to lose their leaves. The whole world becomes a bit barren. Everything looks gloomy and gray. But then the weather starts to warm a bit; little signs of spring and life appear. Buds pop up on the trees. Flowers push up from the ground. The grass starts to brighten. Spring comes, and suddenly the world is beautiful again. Everything is new.

That’s what God can do in our lives. He can make us fresh and bright and new. He can take us from any dark and wintery place and help us see spring again.

God can renew our lives, even though we have all sinned and made mistakes. One example is in Psalm 51. David wrote this psalm after he repented of his sin—using his position as king of Israel to have sex with Bathsheba and then have her husband killed. David had been in a season of darkness and despair, lost in his sin, but after the prophet Nathan confronted him, David trusted God to cleanse him of his sin and make him new again (2 Samuel 11-12).

We can also see God’s renewal in the life of Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament. Before Paul knew Jesus, he killed and persecuted Christians. Then one day, God met him on the road with a bright light and transformed him and made him new by the power of Jesus’s death and resurrection (Acts 9:1-31).

God loves us, and He can take anything and make it new. When you feel in need of spring in your life, you can ask Him to help you find it. • Bethany Acker

• Where do you need renewal in your life? A painful situation, a persistent sin, a broken relationship? You can bring all of these to Jesus in prayer, asking for new life. He loves you, and He is listening.

• Because of Jesus, any sin can be forgiven, and any life can be made new. And when Jesus returns, He will establish the new heavens and the new earth—then sin and death and suffering will be no more, and everyone who has put their trust in Jesus will live with Him forever! How can observing the spring season help us remember Jesus’s bountiful forgiveness and look forward to His glorious return?

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Revelation 21:5a (NIV)