Spring Forward

For a few weeks now I have noticed the days becoming longer.  The long nights of winter are beginning to give way to the light of spring.  On March 9 we will move our clocks forward one hour.  We enter daylight savings time. Daylight savings time in the US started as an energy conservation trick during World War I and became a national standard in the 1960s.  The idea is that we will have more daylight hours longer into the evening.  Thus we are said to “spring forward.”

After a long, cold, and rainy winter in Richmond, Virginia, I am ready for the extra light and the warmth that accompanies it.  The season of spring is about to bud and many are excited to see its arrival.  Life will once again emerge from winter’s soil as nature redecorates itself once again.  Light and life are on horizon!

Likewise, with the changing of the seasons, we will soon change our wardrobes.  The coats and gloves, long sleeve shirts, and other winter wear will be packed away.  We will return to the wardrobe of spring. We will dress ourselves for the new season.

In psalm 104:2 the psalmist writes,“God covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain.” (Psalm 104:2)  God is the God of  light and life.  God dresses in holy light and shines upon his creation everyday.  The glory of God shines forth and reminds us of the new life that we now have because of God.

Thus, with God’s light shining upon us, what is our wardrobe to look like?  The apostle Paul answers this question in his letter to the Colossians where he writes,

 “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.” (Colossians 3: 12-15)

Paul’s wardrobe consultation reminds us how we are to live in the world as followers of Jesus and in the season of light that he brings to the world. While we may be fickle sometimes of what to wear for our physical wardrobe, the clothing of those who follow God remains the same.  It never goes out of style.  Our wardrobe is one fashioned by love with all its accessories:  compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, peace and thankfulness.  This is the dress that is good for every season.

So as we prepare to make a seasonal wardrobe change, may we model ourselves after the one who is clothed in light, Christ our Lord.  Christ’s style is always the best style.  So let us each say, “yes to the dress” that God offers to us out of his own closet.  Then let us go forth into the world and spring forward in the light, love, and life of God.