March is here! We can now start to shed the puffy coats and exchange them for jackets as the weather begins to warm up. And to those who are St. Louis people through and through, we are stoked for baseball to begin. Soon our beloved Cardinals will be playing once again downtown! Can I get a whoop whoop? I know that the month of March also brings the signs of life all around us as the flowers and trees begin to wake from their winter sleep. As I walk through the city park downtown I can see the flowers starting to peak through and the trees that line the sidewalks are beginning to bud.
Speaking of life coming forth all around us, I was coming home from the church the other day and I saw a great sight that reminded me of the life we carry inside us. As the light turned red, I came to a stop. I was not going to be guilty of running two lights on the way home, one is my limit. I’m just kidding, actually it’s three. I digress. So as I waited for the light to turn green, I noticed across the street, a young lady who had to be at least eight months pregnant. She was on the phone laughing and I could tell she was enjoying her conversation. I like to think she was speaking to the father of the baby she carried inside her. She was not trying to hide her “baby bump”, but she displayed it for what it was, a badge of love. It was evident she had been with her lover, and the result was life. She now carried within her womb, a promise of hope, a promise of life.
I had to wonder, as a Christian, what does the world see when they look at me? Do they, like the woman I saw at the light, see a person full of joy carrying life or do they see a barren believer carrying nothing but pain and disappointment? Rachel said to Jacob one day “Give me children or else I will die”. It seems to me that must be the cry of His church these days. On a typical Sunday most churches will have more empty pews than full. The problem is that we have let our hearts, perhaps because of the pain we’ve felt from others, become a tomb instead of a womb. Instead of carrying life we carry death. Is your heart a tomb or a womb? I want my heart to be a place where life can flow, like a waterfall, to minister to everyone I meet along the way. To do this I must spend time with my beloved, Jesus. I must allow him to show me how to forgive those who have hurt me, so that my heart can change from a tomb to a womb. It is in the time I spend with my Savior, that he heals my heart in such a way that like that pregnant women, it is obvious to all I meet I have been with my lover and I am filled with joy! As I pulled away from the light and I looked at the pregnant women crossing the street, I prayed, Lord come into my heart and bring me the joy of bearing life that is evident to those around me.