Fresh

What do I like that is fresh? Air, flowers, food, washing, cut grass and water. Each new day is a fresh start as is a new year. We may not be just talking about the 1st January each year but there is always the possibility of starting a fresh year on your birthday.

We seem to have an inbuilt need for fresh starts. We read about the greatest fresh start in Genesis chapters one and two. I have to wonder if the need for fresh starts stems from the way we messed things up way back then.

If you want something to be fresh, there usually is a lot of work involved. Fresh vegetables means a garden has to be made, worked, seeds planted, weeds pulled and water poured on. A fresh flower means weeding and pruning is a constant job. Fresh washing doesn’t happen by magic; even with an automatic washing machine there is work to be done. Freshly cut grass means a lot of work particularly if it has rained and the grass has managed to grow very well before you manage to get the mower out.

But sometimes something fresh is just a surprise. I was mowing this morning and two bright roses caught my eye. The cutting had been put in the ground some three years ago and we had assumed that it had died. God had looked after it and it surprised me this morning. It’s a bit like the grace that God extends to us; we don’t do anything except accept His gift of salvation when He calls us. We then get to have another wonderful fresh start in His strength and love. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17