“Spring Fever”
We may think that we have it bad here in Kansas, waiting around 5 months or so for the return of warmer weather. People north of us wait longer, while some in the south don’t know what cold really is! We know how to celebrate the arrival of spring! Recognizing new buds on the trees, the first sighting of a robin, and feeling the warmth of the sun.
Can you imagine the spring fever Noah and his family must have had? They had been in the ark for over a year!
- The whole world has gone crazy.
They had forgotten their Creator. Violence had filled the land. God had enough. Judgment was pending.
So too, in many ways is our world today.
- I am glad that I am in the ark.
It took Noah and his family a year’s time to complete the building of the ark. During this time, he had been a preacher of righteousness. Only his immediate family would heed his warning of the coming flood. The total number in Noah’s church…. Eight.
When I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, He placed me into his family. I became a member of his “Church.” I was placed into the ark of safety.
Our Church is not a “big” Church. But I am glad for the ark God has provided us, how about you?
- The world does not appeal to the child of God.
In our text, Noah sends out two birds from the Ark, the raven and the dove.
The raven is a flesh eating bird. It was at home with the floating decaying of debris. So, too, are the lost. The deadness of this world has an attraction to the lost soul.
Noah also sent out a dove. The appetite of the dove is for fresh and green morsels. The dove returned to the ark.
A babe in Christ desires holiness.
Every week the “doves” of our Church return to the ark. The world does not appeal to us. We long for the safety of the ark.
- Thank God for the olive branch.
The dove returned to the ark with a olive branch in its beak on its second flight. Can you imagine the joy this olive branch brought to Noah and his family?
What a message of “Spring Fever.” What a blessing to have the hope of life.
Every week, we join together as a Church in our “little ark” of safety. Every week, as we look into the Word of God, we are blessed with a glimpse of our hope of Heaven. The Holy Spirit, like the dove, captures our hearts with another “olive branch.”
Thank God for the Olive branches.
- Soon, I’ll be going home.
After the third flight of the dove, the dove returned no more to the ark. Over the years, many of the saints of our Church have taken their flight. They have departed from this world to return no more.
But, soon, as in this text, Noah and his family would leave their ark. It was spring time! God opened up the door. Can you imagine the joy that Noah and his family had on that day! It is what I imagine the garden of Eden would have been like.
Are you ready for Spring? Are you ready to take the third flight of the dove? Do you long for Heaven? Do you long for home?
Our prayer, “Even so, Lord Jesus, come!”
Love in Christ,
Pastor Dan