In
the Summertime
Most
of us look forward to and enjoy
the summer. Especially is this so when it is warm and bright. What
fruitful thoughts can this prompt? Here are just three..
Firstly,
summertime reminds us that God
is
faithful to all his promises.
Do you remember what happened after
Noah and company eventually came out of the ark, after the flood? God
made a most wonderful promise – and one, moreover, which was
not
just for Noah but for us. ‘While the earth remaineth,
seedtime
and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and
night shall not cease' (Genesis 8:22). The seasons are mentioned here
– summer and winter being representative of all four seasons
of
the year. And God has kept his promise unfailingly. Whatever the
weather, every year has its summer. Even in these days when so much is
said (more than needs to be said?) about ‘climate change',
God
gives us summers.
The wonderful
necessity that follows from this is that
the God who keeps one of his promises keeps all of his promises. So
ransack the Scriptures for the promises of God, and when you find them
believe them and plead them in prayer.
Secondly,
summertime assures us that God
is
mindful of all our needs . We
are created to work (and in doing
so, to do all things to the glory of God). Nowhere in the Bible does
idleness get any encouragement. But we cannot work literally all the
time. We need breaks. And while we may take these at various times of
the year, summertime is a favourite time for such a holiday –
and
that doesn't have to mean going to expense that we can't afford. Our
minds, bodies, energies, indeed our whole system (for we are
‘fearfully and wonderfully made', Psalm 139:14) all need to
take
some rest, to have some relaxation, to benefit from some change. It is
part of ‘resting in the Lord' in the Christian life that we
take
some literal ‘rest'.
Something needs
to be emphasized however: we cannot
afford to take spiritual rest, or spiritual ‘time off'.
Prayer
and Bible reading is as important on holiday as at any other time. So
is the keeping of the Lord's Day – a well-kept Lord's Day can
‘make' a holiday, whereas a neglected or disappointing Lord's
Day
can ruin a holiday.
Thirdly,
summertime teaches us that God
has made
full provision for our eternal rest
– an
‘everlasting summer', if you like. Jesus' teaching in Matthew
24:32ff about the fig tree and its leaves telling us that
‘summer
is nigh' keeps in our view the return of Christ and the things that are
laid up in store for us in heaven, where Christ is, in whom our life is
hid. That's another subject (maybe for another pastoral letter some
time). But it should whet our appetites and tug at our hearts just to
mention it!
