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"Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge Him. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth" (Hosea 6:3). "Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone" (Zechariah 10:1).

This last Saturday, March 1, was the first day of Spring! At this you might be thinking I am mistaken, since we normally consider spring beginning at the vernal equinox (astronomical spring) which officially begins this year on March 20 at precisely 5:01 a.m. ET.

At that point the sun will be directly over the equator; but this first day of Spring is still nearly three weeks off. For most of my life this is the day I have considered the first day of Spring.

But the last several years I have been heartened to read about meteorological spring which runs from March 1 through May 31. Meteorological spring is based on the annual temperature cycle and astronomical spring is based on the position of the earth in relation to the sun. I enjoy living in a four season climate but winter is the one I prefer to end the quickest.

Think about it: spring-like weather begins in early March, summer-like weather begins in early June, autumn-like in early September and winter-like weather appears in early December.

Well for those in our "neck of the woods" meteorological spring began cold! It was around 20 degrees when we went to church yesterday morning. But I found the graphic above for upstate New York so I guess it wasn't that cold here comparatively!

But it is projected to warm up through the week with highs into the fifties and of course next Sunday we can spring our clocks forward. But... we may still have winter-like weather!

Let's consider a couple of verses that refer to "spring". In the Bible most of the time spring is referring to a source of water, the way we still use the word today. But there are also references to the seasonal sense, such as a prelude to David's most notorious sin. " In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war" (2 Samuel 11:1).

"Let us acknowledge the LORD". Hosea, one of the minor prophets, wrote this some 2,700 years ago calling the people to join him in acknowledging the LORD. I wonder if Hosea had memorized a verse many of us know from Proverbs which was likely written several hundred years earlier, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5,6).

What does "acknowledge" mean? It means to accept or admit God's existence and His truth, to know Him. It means that we recognize He is God, and accept His authority in our life.

"Let us press on to acknowledge Him" would seem to refer to steadfastness in a quest to acknowledge the Lord and get to know Him more and more.

"As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." This verse uses the certainties of nature, including the rising sun and the winter and spring rains to illustrate the certainty that He will appear and come to those who acknowledge Him. That's still true today!

Today let us have an assurance of the certainty of God's care, "as surely as the sun rises" and, "acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge Him".

Today let us have an assurance of the certainty of God's care and, "acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge Him".

Be encouraged today! Hebrews 3:13

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