Longing

Today, very unofficially, is the first day of spring on the reservation. How do I know? It's because today was the first time I saw the man who buys antlers set-up at the gas station.  For the next two months, and perhaps a bit longer, there will be between one and three people there, buying antlers, every day.  After five winters on the reservation that is as sure a sign of spring as anything else.

This winter has been, by far, the mildest we have seen here.  Hardly any snow.  Cold temps, but not cold enough for long enough to freeze over a lake that every other year has been a frequent spot for ice-fishing.  I talked with my father this week and he said their weather was "pretty decent," with a high temp of 15 expected that day.  I know that tonight they are expecting another 8" of snow. 

Most years we might long for spring, with its warmer temperatures and many signs of new life, but not this year in Dulce.  Back in the Midwest it's another story, one that I still remember very well.  Come mid-February and the longing for spring there is very real.

This morning I read Romans 13, where the last half of verse 11 says:

"For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed."

Paul doesn’t mean salvation itself, as if he was still awaiting it.  By faith in Jesus as his savior he was already among those saved, a place from which one can never be removed.  What Paul was speaking of as drawing ever nearer each day was the final goal of salvation, the consummation of all things and the eternal presence of all God's children with their savior and lord. 

There are implication to the approach of the day of salvation that Paul brings out in the remainder of the chapter, but this morning I just had to linger over the idea that salvation itself is closer each day.

We can live each day with a longing for something that lies ahead. For children it might be the end of the school year.  For adults it might be a coming vacation trip, with it's respite from the routines of home and work.  I love my present job but now that I'm in my 60's the idea of retirement is not nearly as abstract or far off as it was in my 20's. 

Right now in our family there is a sense of longing for each of my examples.  The end of the school year will bring significant changes to our home school.  In a few months we are traveling for the wedding of one of our children. And farther off, years rather than months, will be retirement.  Yet I would gladly give up each of those longings for infinitely more precious, the return of my savior and the final goal of salvation: eternity in his presence.