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Thursday, April 8, 2010

Online Etymology Dictionary

Many are divided on the question, "What is your favorite time of the
year?"  Most will have a short list of two seasons: spring and autumn.
There are arguments to be made for each.  Autumn has a certain
crispness in the air, and the changing colors of the leaves is a
marvelous sight.  Spring, on the other hand, is a welcome relief from
the cold winds of winter.  Maybe our favorite time of the year is the
season we're in.

Spring is running full speed here in Upper East Tennessee.  Bradford
pears and weeping cherries have been blooming for a week now, and
dogwoods and redbuds are beginning to open up.  Flowers are popping up
everywhere as is the grass that keeps our lawnmowers running.
Generally we're thrilled to be outside again.

I wondered about the origin of the name "spring" for this season.  The
"Online Etymology Dictionary" offers some views that make sense.  The
name of the season is based upon the verb form of "spring".  A casual
glance around confirms this: leaves are springing forth on the trees,
flowers are springing forth from the soil, and streams of water spring
up as the snow on the mountains begins to melt.

This springing forth is an awesome phenomenon, isn't it?  Plants look
as though they are completely dead during the winter months.  But with
the first hint of warm weather and longer hours of daylight, life
springs forth.  The cycle is so regular that we can predict its
arrival on calendars that are printed months in advance.

The regularity of nature finds its source in our faithful God.  As
Noah and his family watched the waters of the flood recede, God made a
promise: "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and
heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease" (Genesis
8:22).  Some seasons may prove warmer or dryer than others, but their
basic structure has not failed.  Life springs forth every year.

God can make promises like that because He is in control of this
universe.  Consider this truth as revealed in Isaiah 35:5,6: "Then the
eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be
unstopped.  Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of
the dumb sing, for waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and
streams in the desert."  If the Lord wants something to happen, it
will happen!  Nothing is too hard for the Lord (Genesis 18:14).

All of this should matter to us because it offers hope.  Many have
given up on their dreams or on themselves.  They wonder why they
should bother since they've never amounted to anything in their past.
To such people Christ offers hope: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things
have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Look out in your back yard: What had been a bare and dead-looking tree
is now bursting with life.  Now look at yourself: Though failure and
despair may have been your lot, know that Christ can make a
difference.  Blessings and potential will spring forth with the
entrance of God's Son into your life!

Timothy D. Hall

First Corinthians commentary:  Get the new First Corinthians commentary from www.abiblecommentary.com.  Preview the First Corinthians commentary through Google books at http://bit.ly/dfw86d.  Other Bible commentary material from www.abiblecommentary.com includes a FREE on-line Romans commentary:  http://bit.ly/3MRU5I  
 

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