Gray days – soothing days – the soft patter of rain washing the leaves one last time before their final descent displaying their true colors minus chlorophyll. Greens are replaced by reds, rusts and yellows. Soon the leaves will be a blanket protecting the fallen but not yet eaten acorns. Chipmunks and squirrels are making final preparations for the coming storms that will pile a blanket of white over the reds and yellows. It is a busy time with obvious changes every morning. Summer is passed.
One of Scriptures most poignant passages is Jeremiah 8:20. Painfully it reads, “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.” It falls in the context of a people negligent to the importance of their souls’ conditions. I fear if Jeremiah were with us today his message would be little different. We too fill our hours with activities that do not enhance our characters. Hi-Def this and Hi-Def that occupy our minds with invented tales, mostly violent, to tantalize our imaginations. We read the New York Times best sellers instead of John. We spend more time on Facebook than pondering how to understand the power of the Sermon on the Mount, one of the most challenging documents ever written. We twitter our thoughts. We text more than we pray.
Spring will most surely appear again. But we have no guarantees we will be here to see it. If we are, it will be by God’s grace giving us yet another summer to prepare. He is so good and so patient because He desperately wants to save as many as possible. The irony is salvation is not a mysterious process revealed only to a few. It is a gift offered to all.
Written by Roger Bothwell on October 7, 2013
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org