Ready for Summer?
It has been a while, but summer is almost here. Are you ready for it? Can't wait for it? Me neither, summer is almost here, and the living is easy! Outdoor cookouts, family trips on vacation, walks in the park. What a great time of the year isn't it? We wait awhile to enjoy it, and it is finally here, and it seems to go so fast. Some say it is the most wonderful time of the year. But one thing may be lacking, one thing we may forget, One person we may leave behind. Let's talk about that.
Jesus Christ is always refreshing, One who always quenches our thirst no matter the season, but taking flight from Him into Christless leisure will leave our souls parched. We know that "The Lord will guard your going out, and your coming in, from this time forth and forever. "(Psalm 121:8) But if we are not careful, sober, and vigilant, and disciplined, with all the freedom summer brings, we may slight times of prayer, bible study, and meditation. And then we may face consequences like a powerless life, a shallowness in study, and vulnerability to sin. A loss of interest in worship and fellowship with other believers, and the things of the Spirit. A remedy against all this would to be to follow Paul's council in Colossians 3:1-2.
"If you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth." It certainly sounds like there needs to be a balance. Jesus often pulled aside the Apostles for a little rest now and then. And it is indeed a great time to take some time out with family and friends for a time of rest. Jesus is the refreshing center of summer, for He says, "Come unto Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."(Math.11:28) He indeed has come to have first place in everything. (Col.1:18) John Piper states, "Christ gives Himself to us in proportion to how much we want His refreshment. You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart. (Jer.29:13)."
It is indeed God's earth, and He has put us here to have domain over it and to enjoy it. And what beauty there is to enjoy. The sounds, sights, and smells He has created are wonderful to bask in. And we need to have wisdom as to how to enjoy it most and best. J.I. Packer, gives us a good definition of wisdom, "Wisdom is the power to see, and the inclination to choose, the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it. Wisdom is in fact, the practical side of moral goodness. As such, it is found in its fullness only in God. He alone is naturally, and entirely, and invariably wise." Let us use His words to guide, direct, and sustain us in this wonderful season that is at our doorstep.
We know that the love of God constrains or compels or controls us, (2Cor.5:14), may the Spirit help us to continually reflect upon, have a continual sense of, and a continual desire for knowing Him better, loving Him more, and fixing our eyes continually upon Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith throughout this summertime season. Look upon and enjoy the summer as a fore taste of the fullness of joy and pleasures forever more that you will have in heaven one day with Him.
5/27/21