Abundant Life

Nature is all about life - and death.

As lovers of the natural world, we delight in the abundant, thriving, humming life all around us, which is at no time of the year more apparent than during the spring season of growth and rebirth.  As the world breaks free from the grip of winter, we revel in a season of renewal and resurrection.

But remember that in the natural world, it is through death that the way is made for life to flourish.  

The death and decomposition of organic matter provides nutrients for the ecosystem.  

Plants must die to feed herbivores.  Herbivores must die to feed carnivores.  

Seeds that fall to the ground must die to themselves in order to germinate and grow, their rough seed coats falling away to transform into roots stretching down for water and shoots reaching up for sunlight.



So too in our spiritual lives, it is through death that the way has been made to experience abundant life.  

Specifically, it is the death of the One that has made a way for many, the only way for every human being on earth to experience abundant life here on earth and eternal life in His glorious presence forever - if only we will accept His gift of grace.

It is only through the sacrificial and substitutionary atoning death of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, God the Son, that death and darkness has been defeated, and only through His resurrection to life that we may truly live!  

This Easter, Resurrection Sunday, it is appropriate to appreciate and celebrate new life all around us in the form of blooming flowers and singing birds.  But let's not forget the One who makes it all possible, the One who designed, created and sustains all life, the One who paid the just penalty for our sins and defeated death once and for all, so that those who believe in Him can experience life abundantly and eternally in his glorious presence.

Jesus, the author of life, truly is the only way to experience abundant life.

May you turn to Him this Easter, and know the Life that is truly Life!


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About Me

Named after the Sierra Nevada Mountains, I am a naturalist and avid birder based in Central California. Above all, I am a follower of Jesus Christ, our amazingly good Creator God whose magnificent creation is an unending source of awe and inspiration for me. I hope to inspire others to appreciate, respect and protect this beautiful earth we share, and invite you to come along with me as I explore the nature of California and beyond!
- Siera Nystrom -



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