Summer Is Here

And the livin' is easy! What a great time of the year, is it not? So many things you can do, so many places you can go, so many people you can enjoy time with. Having a cookout with burgers and dogs, enjoying a bonfire under star-studded skies, wetting a line in clear-blue waters, enjoying a picnic during sun-soaked days. So much to see, hear, and do. We all waited a long time it seems for this, now that it's here, how will you spend your time this summer? Is there something and Someone else we should be remembering, savoring, and delighting in? Jesus Christ is the refreshing center of summer. Will we be forgetting Him?

If we forget Him, we may be facing a time of shallowness, powerlessness, being more vulnerable to sinning, not remembering the One who created all these wonderful things, places, and experiences we have to enjoy. While we catch a view this summer of His majesty in the creation all around us, let us be sure to catch a continual view of Him in all His glory. Let us keep ourselves in the love of God(Jude 21), let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith(Heb.12:2), and keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.(Col.3:2) John Piper states, "The greatest adversary of love to God is not His enemies, but His gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God Himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable."

We often need to be reminded of many things, don't we? Things slip from our minds like a glass from oily hands. One minute they are there, the next they are not. The Scriptures state we should discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness. (1Tim.4:7). The Scriptures state we should pray without ceasing(1Thess.5:17), taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ(2Cor.10:5), the Scriptures state that we let the word of Christ richly dwell within you. (Col.3:16). All these disciplines as we practice from moment to moment, day to day, month to month, will help us in our relationship with our Maker, and continually cause us to become more like Him, as being wrapped in a blanket of spices. we surely will smell the like. “You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.” (Jer.29:13)

We will receive from Him the same proportion as we desire to be refreshed in Him. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psa.37:4) As we enjoy the sun this upcoming summer, let us enjoy, be refreshed, and walk in a manner of the Son of righteousness. Commentator G.Campbell Morgan states, "We forget the law of God, we forget the deliverance of God, we forget the very love of God, in so far as memory serves us as an inspiration to true conduct, to trust, to amended life, to the loyalty which love demands." Summer is here, and it remains a time to rejoice in Him. I hope you all have a safe, fun, enjoyable summer as you enjoy in the presence of God. Remember Him who made it all for you, and catch a firefly for me, will you?

Elder Randy Slak
06/06/2023