April 20th

Read: John 12:23-25; Heb. 10:18; Gen. 1:20-31; 2:7-8; 1 Cor. 15:35-50

Every form of physical life here on earth must die, because physical life is not eternal. It is temporal. It is given to us by our Creator to last His length of time for His purposes. In this respect we are the same as a plant or a butterfly or an elephant! What makes a human being different from all other life forms is his soul, which was made in God’s image.

When God’s Holy Spirit enters us because of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His work on the cross, our spirits are quickened within us, the part of us which died when Adam sinned and brought ruin on the race. That old man in us dies and new birth occurs.

AFFINITY
I lament with the eagle
A-soaring so high,
Who for sustenance must plunge
To earth lest he die;
Yet I say to the robin,
“I know what you mean
When you sing your bright hymn
To the sun and the green.”

I say to the crocuses,
Gay though they be,
“Being first forth is lonely
And cold vanity.”
Then I grieve with the trees,
Bereft in the fall,
For to suffer such loss
Is as bitter as gall.

I envy the lizard
The heat of his stone,
For basking in warmth
Is delight of my own,
Yet I look with compassion
Upon every worm,
For I know how it feels
To struggle and squirm.

I mourn with the loon
In his lost forest tree,
For his cry echoes loneliness
Deep within me,
Yet I witness full life
In the scurrying ant
And realize time
To myself is too scant.

Each life form I know
Is related to me
In its vigorous drive
To be best it can be,
Yet just as my sojourn
Must end here on earth,
Each one must meet death
So there blossoms new birth.

Prayer: Dear God, thank You for Jesus’ atoning work on Calvary and for my new birth in Him.