Yes springtime, have you noticed that the ducks that wander at will through the parks and people’s properties seem to get bolder at springtime, feed them once and they are yours for life, if we leave the door open, they would be nesting in the workshop.

It’s this time of the year when the deciduous trees wake up from their sleep over the last months, their systems start processing all the nutrients that they draw out of the ground and they begin transporting it up from the roots to the very top branches, we call it the rising of sap, and it begins the new cycle of annual reproduction so there is never a shortage of timber in the workshop or fruit trees at home.

In spring if you care to look at the fruit trees you can see the buds getting fatter until the blossoms appear all over the tree. My plum tree has got hundreds of thousands of blooms each year but getting them all to produce plums is another story.

Have you ever looked at a pine forest that has been cutover and witnessed the natural regeneration with thousands of small trees on the hillsides? Many times, in days gone by that was the natural process but today they plant pine trees with machines to speed things up and it saves a lot of time thinning them out later into an orderly pattern, so they don’t crowd each other. When considering the trees and plants who have a season of sleep, we are not so different but sometimes there are those who never wake up, the sleep I’m referring to is that of our soul which can only be awakened by God at the time of Salvation.
Romans 13: 11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed.

God has provided a method so that all humanity can wake up and share in eternal life so that when they pass from this earthly existence, they can enjoy the beautiful new beginning which is very much like the trees in springtime.  But the trees in late Autumn when each tree has done all its hard work producing fruit and becomes tired, then the leaves fall off and the tree drops off to sleep for a while and waits for the regeneration of spring.

Life is a bit like that, after the initial burst of youthful life we slow down until the leaves fall off and they plant us back in the ground, but that’s not the end, no we are not like a tree, we are eternal beings with soul and spirit that leaves the body when the leaves fall. We have an eternal destiny whether you want to admit it or not, and God who made us wants us with Him in eternity. He has some amazing plans for you when your leaves fall.

1 Corinthians 2: 9. But as it is written. Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those that love Him.

1 Peter 1: 3-4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 4. To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.

I can think of some amazing places I would like to visit but these verses tell me it is beyond my imagination to know what eternity is about, but here lies a challenge to mankind, will we accept the invitation to come and live or will we reject or neglect.

Sadly, because the soul and spirit do not die there has to be an alternate eternal destination for those who choose to reject, Jesus’ spoke of a place where remorse, regret and darkness bring eternal anguish to all who have rejected Jesus’ invitation to come and be forgiven and experience the abundant life. We do not understand the best offered us in God’s kingdom, and in contrast we cannot comprehend the terrible anguish of “Paradise Lost.” Pride is a terrible master and has caused many with best intentions, and great arguments to blindly descend that awful path to a lost eternity.

But regeneration is a wonderful thing for trees and mankind, when man realizes they are in debt to God and turn from their sin and follow Christ, He comes into a life that is like Springtime, a new joy filled life begins, knowing you are right and clean before your maker brings peace of mind. Ephesians 1: 7. In Him (Jesus) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

Regeneration in trees is when life bursts forth in the beauty of the flowers that so often contain a beautiful scent that attracts the bees in the daytime and moths at night who pollinate and the cycle that causes fruit to ultimately develop and ripen.

But of course, some think this all happened by chance and one day the tree just decided to evolve and produce by itself, but let us consider the trees, they are really like the machines in the workshop that have many important parts, nuts, bolts, screws, you wouldn’t say the ripsaw, hand plane, or the wood lathe made themselves would you, no a designer had to plan each integral part the same as the trees and all living things.

The tree was producing sap from day one otherwise it would die, and the buds formed and produced flowers from day one, and the flowers smelled and had the mechanism to produce fruit from day one and the bees came to pollinate at just the right time from day one otherwise the whole cycle would fall apart.

You see to make it work the bee had to arrive at the very same season as the tree started flowering otherwise there would be no pollination to make fruit, so the tree needed the bee. But the bees also needed the tree to collect pollen from flowers to make honey to feed the next generation of bees to pollinate the flowers, and for the cycle to work all life had to start together at the same time. And it all happened by chance? Yeah right, give me a break. The rocking chair in the workshop needed a designer and someone to make it, what is the chance it came about by us putting all the timber, screws, glue and polyurethane in a box, giving it a shake and next day we found it complete and painted.

The God who made the trees and bees that work in perfect harmony has some amazing plans for your regeneration with Christ and for you when your leaves fall in due season.

Yeah, as a young buck I remember building a house with a couple of other apprentices and some tradesmen carpenters and Easter came around, it was the first time I understood what the cross was all about, not the X on the buns but the one that had a person nailed to it, who just happened to be the Son of God and at that time 2000 years ago He was taking the punishment for the sin of all humanity upon himself because we had a debt we couldn’t pay and He came and paid it for us.

A few months earlier I had swallowed my pride and asked Jesus to forgive my sin and my reckless lifestyle and come into my life and amazingly I experienced a change in desires and habits, I came to know God’s peace in my heart for the first time. I told the guys I worked with about my change in life which I have never regretted and some laughed, some joked, but some confided they had done the same.

Have you taken the advantage of having your debt of sin paid for, do you know that Christ has already paid for your sin? But you must ask Him into your life, and you will be forgiven and experience God’s regeneration and enjoy the place prepared for you when your leaves fall, and the lights go out in your workshop one last time.

Which reminds me that I had better check that no duck sneaked in to make a nest in the shavings out the back while we weren’t watching, don’t want to be tripping over ducklings in a few weeks.

The other day I was passing a Golf course and noticed they were doing some major earthworks and had cut down some large trees, I was thinking that some of the Macrocarpa would make some great outdoor furniture, or even look good when turned up on a lathe, excuse my drooling over slabs of timber but there is a lot of joy in working with some of these timbers even though they look a bit rough as growing trees.

Golf is pretty big in the news since that young fella Fox beat the rest of the world at St Andrews the other day, quite a feat for a Colonial from down under.

Of course, you don’t just pick up a club and become that good overnight, it takes many hours of practice and discipline to get that good, which reminds me discipline isn’t a word that is used much today probably because it sounds too confined in this age of liberty and free expression.

The bible refers to discipline as chastening or correction, Deuteronomy 8: 5. You shall also consider in your heart, that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.

Proverbs 3: 12. For whom the LORD loves He corrects; even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

With no discipline we would be like wild animals but a good father who loves his children will correct them, if you want to achieve in any field today you must discipline yourself, nobody wants to employ people who are slack and don’t turn up on time or have bad habits and there is too many like that today.

But getting back to Golf, have you noticed that the ball is not smooth like an egg or Table Tennis ball, if you have a good look it is covered in dimples which have been placed there under pressure. The average amount of dimples on one ball is 336, some have more, some have less, but the reason is that it increases lift and reduces aerodynamic drag allowing it to fly twice as far as a smooth ball, pressure has made it to be perfect.

Have you ever had a chat with a golf ball and asked what it felt like being pressurized, sorry I’m getting carried away, but pressure is sometimes a good thing in making us more like Christ because it helps remove the things that will hinder our progress as we follow Jesus.

At times we have pressure and experience problems and adversities, some self-inflicted, some not, but remember our God who loves us will still bless during adversity.

Back to golf, did you know that the first golf balls were made of a leather case that was stuffed with feathers but was not so good when it got wet, so through trial and error they found a way through pressure to make the very best ball available.

These principles are similar for Christians; Christianity is not about soft feathers and wet saggy skins, but it’s about people like you and me learning sometimes through adversity to live as Jesus did so that we may be fit for the kingdom of God.

God has saved us by His amazing grace and His grace alone, the death of Jesus Christ on the cross was sufficient to save whosoever that will come and needs no help from man’s ideas or any churches exclusive doctrines to qualify us for God’s kingdom, there are plenty of false ideas out there. Like golf, get the best instructors.

Peter 4: 12. Beloved, don’t think it is strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. 13. But rejoice because you are a partaker of Christ’s sufferings; that when his glory is revealed you may be glad also with exceeding joy.

So, we see that trials and testing are necessary, this doesn’t mean we have to endure anything like what Jesus endured on the cross but for us it’s just the day-by-day trials, Rugby and League players and athletes who must train hard are the extreme, but whatever our place in life we will encounter the discipline of learning that helps us endure what life will throw at us.                              James 1: 2-3. My brothers and sisters count it all joy when you encounter various trials. Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Let us not forget that if we are a part of God’s family and an heir to all the promises for those who are following Jesus Christ, He is able to share in and help in our difficulties because He has been there Himself,  we are so blessed above and beyond what those outside of Christ experience but desire that they too may experience this  wonderful hope of eternity that one day will be without all the tribulations of this world.

1Corinthians 10: 13. There is no temptation taken you but such that is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Having read in the Old Testament of the beautiful carvings and timberwork in the temple it makes you wonder what some of the heavenly mansions are going to look like and if golf is played when this earth is refurbished, I think you will find courses to dream for, with flower strewn pathways and the clearest water in the ponds so you can see your ball if you go off course and all the trees bearing fruit four times a year.

Remember, you are not going to be like a golf ball getting smashed with a driver, God treats us like His beloved children because we are special in His sight, we have been purchased with the blood of His dear son Jesus Christ who was judged on our behalf.

Well, that’s all the writing from the workshop today, I’ve got to sharpen some of my tools tonight to be ready for tomorrow, it’s no use starting the day with blunt tools. Are you prepared for tomorrow? But what about right now?

Matthew 24: 44. Therefore you also be ready: for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man will come.

Welcome to the workshop. One of my mates just dropped in and told me he went fishing the other day but the type of fish he wanted seemed to have gone from the harbour.

Well, after he went, I just carried on sharpening my chisels, as you know blunt tools are more dangerous than sharp ones, the reason is you put more effort in using the blunt ones and you are more likely to slip and whoops, where’s the first aid kit.

You know, the bible is the greatest tool God ever gave to man, and the more you use it the sharper it gets, Hebrews 4: 12. For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

But back to the fish, have you ever considered that when God created all the creatures and animals, He said, “It was good” Genesis 1: 21. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

In this instance the word good means to be “agreeable to the senses” which in the case of the fish they have sensed the change in the water temperature and have moved into deeper water until next summer when the temperature rises.
And the fish don’t have this sense all to themselves but consider the great migrations of the herds in Africa, the herbivores travelling hundreds of kilometers to other regions where the rain has caused the rich grasses to grow in their season.

Also, we see the migratory birds that fly thousands of kilometers each year and feed up in the Southern summers and return North to breed in the Northern summers.

Sense or instinct has been placed in all of the birds and animals so that they survive.

The bible gives an example of some birds that are common in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, Jeremiah 8: 7. Yes, the stork in the heaven knows her appointed times; and the turtle dove and the crane and the swallow, they observe the time of their coming: But My people know not the Judgement of the LORD.

Yes, in New Zealand we have the Godwit which flies from the Alaskan Tundra regions all the way South, non-stop to NZ in about 8-9 days, and they usually arrive about early September and leave mid to late March with one stop on the way home where they nest and breed in May. Don’t you think it’s a bit far-fetched to think they just checked their calendar and saw it was time to fly south to good old NZ. God saw it was good.

But God has a quarrel with His people who understand about birds but are ignorant of His warnings, before speaking of the birds in verse 7 we must read verses 5-6.

Jeremiah 8: 5. Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit and refuse to return.
6. I hearkened and heard, but they spoke not aright; no man repented of his wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Everyone turned to his course, as the horse rushes into the battle.

As in the days of Jeremiah the people of the 21^st century display the same attitudes and in the main ignore the fact that God has spoken in so many ways to get our attention.

It has been recorded that several times when planes have had engine trouble and it seems the plane is doomed to crash that the majority of people start screaming out for God to intervene, all of a sudden God is brought into the equation but in some cases, it has been too late.

Think of the earthquakes and bush fires, Tsunamis, floods, and landslides. The bible in Romans 8: 22. For we know that the whole Creation Groans and travails in pain together until now.
A sign of the return of Christ??

Isaiah reminds of the faithfulness and affection of animals and sadly the forgetfulness of God’s people, Isaiah 1: 3. The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master’s crib, but Israel does not know, My people do not consider.

The peoples from Britain and Europe who pioneered lands in the 18^th -20^th centuries had roots in Christianity and Scripture and as a result became strong and prospered, but today with an abundance of everything they have forgotten who blessed them. The bible records the word “return”263 times and most refer to returning to God.

Isaiah 44: 22. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud your sins: Return to Me: for I have redeemed you.

As one of my timber suppliers said, “You can’t get a better deal than that,” and yet we still ignore and do some strange and foolish things.

My fishing friend locks up his house and boat each night, and I make sure the workshop is secure but what about our souls, are they secure from the one who is out to Rob, Kill, and Destroy, the biggest padlock in the world won’t save us from him.

Christ alone is our strong and mighty tower where we are safe, He is our Rock to stand on, our Shield to defend us, His Word is our Sword to fight, His blood is the ransom that has been paid for our sin, it’s pretty simple if you want to go to heaven.

Well time has gone and it’s time to lock up the workshop for today but before I relax, I must check on my Sword and use it no use leaving it in the scabbard, like the valiant men of old their sword was their best friend, it was their constant companion, cared for and loved at all times.                Hey! Check yours often.

One more reminder, check your sword, keep the blade sharp by constantly having it in your hands and using it.

That’s all from the “Workshop” today.