Wind of Change

March is known as the "Windy Month." As a child in grade school we used to recite a nursery rhyme of the months and seasons. I remember singing a tune to the rhyme, "March Winds, April showers bring May flowers."  I also remember making a kite out of a couple of sticks, newspaper and string and running so that the wind would catch my kite. My siblings and I would have hours of fun flying our kites on a windy day. 

Several scripture verses in the bible associate the wind with the Holy Spirit. For example, in his gospel, John recounts a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish Council. In the conversation, Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”(John 3:5-8 NIV)  

To experience a "New Birth" in Christ is to have experienced the Holy Spirits work in one’s life. In John chapter 3 Jesus describes the Spirit's work as mysterious like the wind. In other words, there is a mystery about the new birth experience. There may not be a change in one’s appearance, he or she may look the same, but we can see the effects of a spiritual transformation in a person’s character and behavior that is the manifestation of an unseen power.  One who is born of the Spirit is like the wind, we cannot tell its direction or source, yet we can see its effects. Therefore, the life of a regenerated soul is a life that has encountered the "Wind of Change."  

We are halfway through the Lenten Season and Spring is on the horizon. Let us look forward with heartfelt anticipation to growing in the Spirit of God. As we move toward Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter (Resurrection) Sunday, I encourage you to open your heart and soul to the Wind of Change and allow yourself to be revived, renewed and rekindled in Christ our Redeemer.   

 

Jacqueline