I wonder if anyone in the history of the world has ever combined all their so-called special (‘purple’) days into one. For instance, they celebrated their birthday in the morning, their wedding in the afternoon; in the evening they received their statement of clearance from university debt, and just before midnight, moved into the home they’d inherited from their parents. Unlikely, yes, but hypothetically possible.

But what is unlikely in the social-economic side of life, is the great reality in the story of the person who puts their trust in Jesus Christ. On the day of their spiritual birth, they are also wedded to Christ; declared pardoned from all their sins, and handed the keys to a room that is reserved for them in heaven. And they are only some of the gifts and graces. There is the indwelling Holy Spirit, the belonging to a communion of saints, the comfort of a purposeful providence, and the good counsel of the Word.

Perhaps the only thing I can think of that could exceed the conjunction of so-called purple days, is a purple patch, where a number of purple days are happily strung together. But even that scenario falls short of what is promised to the believer, for the word ‘patch’ implies boundaries and finitude. But how shall our hope be described? A perpetuity of purple patches?: ‘In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness!’