Daily Spiritual Renewal

"For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. ¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day."

2 Corinthians 4:15-16

As I walked early this morning, evidence of spring renewal was everywhere.  Trees were covered in white and pink blossoms, small green leaves have begun to emerge on deciduous trees, magpies foraged for their young, and the winter chill was gone from the air.  In His wisdom, God created the earth with seasons where winter rest precedes a period of renewal, growth and fruitfulness in the spring.  This led me to consider what Paul meant when he said the "inward man" of a believer is being renewed day by day.  Unlike the four seasons we experience in nature that last for months, spiritual renewal of Christians is intended by God to be our daily experience.

People can lose heart due to disappointments, dashed expectations and physical pains.  Many can be frustrated and feel hopeless about our physical bodies which wear out and perish like everything on earth that at one time was new.  Paul did not lose heart in the tribulations he faced for Christ's sake or his aching joints because day by day he was being renewed with spiritual strength and sure expectation of receiving good from God according to the riches of God's grace.  The psalmist spoke of the renewal of animals on the earth by God's power in Psalm 104:29-30:  "You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. ³⁰ You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth."  After Noah, his family and animals were preserved the ark during the great flood, God's renewal of the earth has continued every year and every day without fail.  Observing God's renewal in the natural realm illustrates the spiritual renewal God desires to do in us day by day.

It struck me:  what if Noah, his family and animals decided to remain in the ark due to fear of future rains and flooding?  When the ship rested on Mt. Ararat and the olive leaf had been fetched by a dove from a tree to affirm the waters had dried up on the earth, it was time for a new season to emerge from the ark, explore and inhabit the new world God brought out of the previous global devastation.  All living things saved alive in the ark were to go forth, and God would make them to be fruitful and multiply.  Though exploring and settling in the land would require hard labour, it was good for Noah and his family to depart the cramped quarters of the ark and even use it for scrap in building projects--knowing God would keep His word to never again flood the earth with water to destroy it.  Spry youths grow weary and faint, but those who wait on the LORD will have their strength renewed to miraculously do spiritually what is impossible for our bodies:  to mount up with wings as eagles, to run without weariness and walk with Christ without needing to stop (Isaiah 40:28-31).

The invitation of the beloved to the Shulamite to venture outside to appreciate God's renewal of the land is fitting for Christians to consider spiritually in this new day God has made in Song of Songs 2:10-14:  "My beloved spoke, and said to me: "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. ¹¹ For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. ¹² The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. ¹³ The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away! ¹⁴ "O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely."  The Shulamite needed encouragement to rise and go toward the one who loved her, and Christians need encouragement as well to rise from our winter slumber.  The winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers are blooming, birds are singing and fruit is growing.  This is the spiritual reality when Jesus Christ renews our inward man day by day.  Will we remain bundled up in the dark, afraid of being rained on when the Light of the World shines and calls us by name to rise and seek Him?