Summer is here, officially. And well, it’s really been hot so far!
Summer is the season that many people that I know wait all year for. The season is noted to include the months of June, July, and August. Three months, essentially (we can still have good weather into October – we just can’t count on it), out of twelve. Oh, sure, there are various holidays to occupy our time (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day) but it is summer that we wait for.
Then, when summer arrives, there is so much to do. Getting out the lawn furniture, tending to gardens and flower beds, summer vacations, baseball games, various fairs, carnivals, Fourth of July celebrations with fireworks, picnics, parks, hikes, and cookouts with friends and family. And then…Labor Day is here. Time to pack summer things away and wait for next year.
There is a potential danger in our approach. We wait all year for summer, then rush through it so quickly that we may not enjoy it. We could become so busy enjoying the summer that we…don’t actually enjoy the summer.
It occurs to me that we may do the same in other areas of our lives. Do we, for example, do the same with God? I mean, we spend time at church worshipping God, we spend time in prayer giving thanks and making requests and petitions, and maybe we spend time reading or studying our Bibles. But do we take the time to truly experience worship, prayer and study? Or do we rush through those activities because, well, there are so many other things that we need to do?
I want to encourage everyone to take the time, maybe slow down if that’s what we need to do, but take the time to really enjoy the wonderful gifts that God has given us. Enjoy the summer. And enjoy fellowship with God.