THOUGHT for the week

Who knows what the weather will be like as you read this? After some record-breaking highs in February we seem to be back to what passes for normal in these parts.

However it is official – spring is here – as of yesterday, Wednesday March 20. So roll on long days and hopefully some warmth!

Of course all this extra daylight and heat will mean lawns will need to be mown, hedges trimmed, abundant weeds removed.

Climate change is frequently in the news and we are rightly challenged to be less wasteful in our use of natural resources. But do we ever take stock to consider the amazing reality of our planet’s unique environment and ability to provide the ideal setting for life in all its variety?

The Christian perspective is that this has not come about by chance or accident but by the awesome power of a Creator God who has made it so. He remains committed to his creation – remember his promise to Noah long ago – as long as the earth endures there would be seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night unceasingly.

Every day God is keeping his promise and his commitment extends to the Biblical hope of a complete renewal of all the creation, sometimes described as a new heavens and a new earth. Central to this promise is the person and work of Jesus Christ, whose death and resurrection we will soon remember at Easter.

So as we see new life all around, should we not give thanks for it, do what we can to care for what the Creator has entrusted to us, and believe that the God who is ever faithful to his word has not changed? He keeps his promises.

James Beaton Oban Free Church