I’m not one for resolutions, but rebirth and renewal excite me.

This morning I awoke with an energy I haven’t known for quite some time. I could sense something different. Something was new, something exciting. My contacts plopped themselves in, my teeth were brushed. I could see light from the bathroom window. I crept quiet through our bedroom; my wife was still sleeping. And then, stepping into the hall, beams of sunlight greeted me sweetly.

It looked glorious.

Out the window, the farm was bathed in soft glow. The color of warmth. The color of life. It brightened my eyes. I bounced with an extra step to my stride. I hurried downstairs to find our oldest eating cereal with the kitchen door open. Odd, I thought. I raced outside. I about fell over.

After the tremendously harsh blast of winter storm we faced over Christmas, it was hard to believe that I could stand on my patio in a t-shirt. Wasn’t it was sub-zero for several days only a week ago? Dangerously unbearable weather conditions? Ones I didn’t like?

Snapping back into the now and present, my excitement didn’t stop. I ran back into the house and told my son I was heading out to take some pictures before things changed. Who knew how long this precious gift would last? Would Western Pennsylvania sunbeams in December last forever? Had I found a treasure in the sand?

Needing no coat, I grabbed a hoodie, my computer, and my Bible. I wasted no time, jumping into my pickup (window down) and headed for the top of the hill behind our house. I needed to see the view in all its splendor. I wanted to take it all in.

I parked along the road. Hoofed it up the hill. Breathtaking. Magnificent. For those of you who live where it’s warm all the time, sunny all the time, or beautiful all the time, Western Pennsylvania is not that. We must capitalize on these chances when we get them. The Great Lakes and Jet Stream cloud cover smothers our area with gray for much of the year. But this? On December 30th? It was a dream.

And the view did not disappoint. It was inspiring, I might say. It breathed life into me. Shook the cabin fever out. Dusted the cobwebs off my back. It was so relieving to be able to stand outside with only a hoodie. Taking in the sun, looking over the farm, our home, watching the world God made . . . it filled me with fresh life.

It was like rebirth for me.

And isn’t that what we all need?

I looked down at some Foxtails as I stood there. Lifeless. Hollow. Beige in color. Pale. They had lived their life already. A few months ago, they grew, danced in the wind as the summer sun gave them strength. But now, they stood as only reminders of what I knew they could be.

A thought hit me.

Aren’t we all the same? Aren’t we all second-best versions of ourselves until the moment God breaths rebirth into us? Isn’t that our purpose in life to begin with? To be the version of ourselves that He desired?

And looking into the Foxtail, I know the rebirth that is coming. Come July, new stalks of the grass will cover the entire countryside. Everywhere you look they will be thriving. Come August, bushy seed heads will be swaying back and forth in the breeze. Yes, rebirth is coming for the Foxtail.

But what about you?

As we are reminded of what rebirth and renewal feels like on this warm and sunny morning, wouldn’t you love to experience the same transformation spiritually?

The evangelist Billy Graham once said, “Christ can take the most sin-laden, selfish, evil person and bring forgiveness and new life.” Yes, I’ll testify. I’ve been forgiven of things myself. Things that without this rebirth, I’d be lost, and without hope.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

That is incredibly relieving, for sure. It’s some of the best news I’ve ever heard. I want no part of the old, sinful, and scarred self I used to be. Renewal and rebirth in Christ are simple. Free. Easy. And now I can walk in the new light and new life of a bright future, all because Christ has made this possible to me. It mirrors the same thing I experienced this morning: waking up and enjoying the new light and life of the warm sunny skies.

C. S. Lewis said, “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” I like that. And I find that quote to be true also. There’s nothing about the old and new that’s comparable in this rebirth process. Nothing my dead self wants to offer my alive self. There’s nothing old I want to take with me on the new journey. The new is that much better. And in the next life, this life won’t hold a candle to anything we will see or experience.

Rebirth. Renewal.

It can be yours, too.

Finally, just like I know that come August there will be new Foxtails in every corner I see, I know that one day in the next life everything I see will be made new as well. And for those who experience the rebirth and renewal that Jesus offers, a new world of inexpressible life will be available for us. Eternal life. A life without pain. A life without sorrow. A life without loss. A life without hurt. One day, Jesus is going to all make things new. Revelation 21:3-5 promises such a world to those experiencing His renewal.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

And that’s a rebirth and renewal I’m excited to be part of.

By Chuck Carr.