One of my favorite things about watching winter turn into spring is the analogy of something dark and dead becoming bright and alive.

Just as cold winter turns to new spring, so does Christ do in me

That's what happens to us when we receive Christ as our Savior. The deadness and loss of life that's caused by sin becomes obliterated by the forgiveness and newness Jesus gives.

Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” If you are a believer, saved by grace, in Christ, then your sins are gone. Your old way of life is done away with. Who you used to be before Christ is not who you are anymore. You've been given a new name, a new song to sing. In Christ's perfection, we become new creations. Sin has been replaced with forgiveness. Shame and guilt with freedom. Death with life. Brokenness with healing. All because of what Jesus has done for you. He took the penalty we owed so we could go free. You don't have to live in death and darkness anymore.

Just as birds sing a new song to their Creator in spring sunshine, won't you blossom into all He's created you to be?