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Life in Greencastle - Rich Before We Were Born

The dry leaves scrapped against the pavement - pushed along by a pleasant breeze - and the earth is being soaked in the sunshine. It feels good, doesn't - offering a renewed sense of life and freedom? Seems like the perfect time for Spring Break, and I have seen the evidence of those who are going away for even warmer weather: the minivans and SUV's packed full.

Sometimes we need those breaks. We need those moments when we can separate from normal routines and rhythms and get a fresh vision of life again. Sometimes that comes from sandy beaches and sun on our skin. Other times, though, the new perspective is given to us exactly where we are.

Such a moment occurred for me this past week. I was reading about the thoughts and teachings of our old Reformed teacher: John Calvin - the French minister with an exacting mind and heart full of God. I was reading what Calvin had to say about modern topics like the environment and sustainability. That's when I came across an expression that brought a new perspective. "God made us rich before we were born," Calvin wrote in describing how God lavishly and sufficiently created the world, and he went on to say that God did not create Adam and Eve "until he had liberally enriched the earth with all good things."

That would be something if we could see our lives that way: rich before we even draw our first breath, our lives surrounded by treasures as tall as the Rocky Mountains. And, yet, as strange as it may seem to us, Paul said something very similar to the Ephesians: "I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance ..." (Eph. 1:17-18). Before we ever could earn a paycheck, God generously cut a check signed by Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we get a glimpse of this inheritance that has been given to us, like these sunny days or when we can enter into a time of restful leisure and receive the day God has made. And when those reminders come, it gives us renewed hope.

Perhaps you will be one of those who will be away this coming Sunday. Or, maybe you will be one who remains behind. Either way, may you remember that God lavishly created the world for you, and - in Christ Jesus - gives us all good things.

If you are with us, I look forward to worshiping with you. We'll have the opportunity to reflect more on the goodness of Jesus life and how it "infects" our own life. And we might just have a few of the younger voices leading us in a song.

God's peace be yours and the riches of Christ as well,

Wes
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