When Will Winter End? (1 John 3:2-3)

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3)

A sapling is as much of a tree as a mighty oak. It will never be less of a tree, but it will be more. To be so, this sapling needs plenty of sunshine and rain to become a tree, but it needs something else: winter. It needs the rough north winds to shed its old leaves and the chill of winter to kill any harmful diseases. In these wintry months, the expectation, the hope of spring, causes the tree to prepare for what it will be.

Before us, we have a great promise. We are children now, and never less than children will we be. However, one day we will see Christ and be conformed into His wonderful image. This is a promise unchangeable and unshakeable, rooted in eternity and to be enjoyed in eternity (Rom. 8:28-30). God could no more break his promise to the sun and the seasons than to break this promise. We live in hope that this imperishable seed planted within us will one day sprout into a mighty oak, and this hope sustains us through our winter.

Many of us are worn out by winter. The frost has shorn our leaves, the wind has broken our branches, and we question how much longer we can survive. But we have a promise: we shall become like Christ. Christ endured the longest winter. The miseries of this life broke his branches, the cross shorn his leaves, and the grave hid from his eyes all the rays of divine favor; yet He now reigns, exalted in heaven, basking in the warm rays of glory.

Glory may seem impossible in this bleak winter, but our winter prepares us for glory. Our affliction is light compared to the incomparable weight of glory before us. Now is the time that we shed what is earthly and purify ourselves in hope of what we shall be. This winter will not last forever, but spring will never end.