The very first thing that you look for, the first sign that the winter is over and the spring is here,—what is it? Wise king Solomon tells us what he says:—

“For, lo, the winter is past;
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth.”

Long ago the Chinese put the same thought into this short and beautiful legend:—

“The flower opens, and, behold! another year.”

First comes the pure and delicate snowdrop, looking almost like a living snowflake, or as if

“by some transforming power,
Had changed an icicle into a flower.”

This is followed in turn by the crocus, the violet, the hyacinth, the primrose, and so on all through the year. Those of you who have gardens, and love to watch the sweet things growing there, know that each month brings some new beauties to adorn the British flower garden.

And not in the garden only, but in the woods, in the fields where by and by you will see the red clover, the waving corn and dancing oats, and in the orchards,—think of the richness, as well as the beauty, that is coming out of the earth.

Where does all this beauty and fruitfulness spring from? Perhaps some of you will remember some of the lessons we had together about seeds in the autumn, when we learned that the real seed, from which all other seeds have come, and from which everything in the earth is brought forth, is the Word of God. For in the beginning God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass,” trees, fruit, whose seed is in itself. So all the wonders springing from the ground are the visible Word of God,—God’s Word made into forms that we can see and touch.

Your words, you know, express your thoughts; by them you are able to give out the thoughts that come into your mind. The Bible tells us that “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” So your words, which tell what you think in your heart, show just what you yourself are.

And it is just so with the words of God. They express His thoughts, and so show us what He is. And in all these beautiful forms into which God, by the power of His Word, has put His thoughts, He is making it possible for us to see Him, to learn of His nature.

There are a great many different seeds, for there are many, many thousands of different kinds of plants. Think of it! Each tiny seed has wrapped up in it a thought of God, and as it springs up and unfolds in leaf and bud and flower and fruit, we may read in it the thoughts of God, and so learn to know and love Him.

Be sure to sow some seeds this spring, if you can have ever so small a piece of ground, or only a window box or flower-pot to put them in. Think as you look at the little seeds before you put them in the earth, of the wonderful, powerful, beautiful life of God that is in them. And as you watch them spring up and grow, and unfold and develop, in these plants which are His visible Word God Himself will talk with you, telling you His thoughts and revealing Himself to you.