Summer-Time
July 21, 2011
The song ‘Summer Time’ is ringing in my ears…Summer-time & the living is easy, fish are jumping, and the cotton is high.Ah…summer is here! Don’t you just love this time of year? In Ontario this weather has been exceptional – it is a beautiful time of year and if cotton grew in Canada it would be high! We Canadians have been waiting a long winter for this weather! Finally school is out & the kids are home – rigid schedules have shifted to spontaneous moments like afternoon swims, wieners on the barbecue, late nights, and week-end camping trips…but do you feel like God got left behind? It might have been easier before when the day was all sectioned off into time slots to squeeze in a moment of prayer over a morning coffee but now the kids are up and the house is up-side down messy because… who wants to be indoors cleaning when the sun is beckoning?
Summer-time brings many distractions, but have you felt like your time spent with God is getting more and more infrequent? Are you lacking the enthusiasm for setting aside a moment with Jesus? It’s easy to get caught up in the events of the day but what happens is you miss out on His sustenance that enables you to handle what ever difficulties that may arise that day. Part of the reason it is hard is because Satan tries everything in his power to keep you distracted from spending time alone with God. He will dangle any carrot or Popsicle in front of you to keep you from lifting up a prayer on behalf of yourself, your family, your community, and your country. But when we do pray in accordance with the will of God, the Lord will move heaven and earth to answer our prayers!
If we are going to keep our passion & zeal for the Lord we must be diligent not to let ourselves be distracted with the things of summer, I really think the enemy likes to feed into our minds that we are justified to ‘take some time off’ to relax & enjoy, you deserve it etc. – not that we should feel condemned for enjoying some fun either – because gosh how guilt can battle us down too! but can it not be a healthy balance? Not to have the mindset that we are on summer hiatus because we will end up taking a spiritual hiatus as well and neglect our relationship with the Lord. Unfortunately Satan doesn’t holiday either, if only he would put his feet up and leave us alone but we all know the answer to that wish!
So I encourage you if you have been feeling like you have been on a vacation from God – don’t despair, God in His grace is waiting with open arms. John 7:38 reminds us that Jesus is the Living Water as we drink of Him we will never thirst -
He is like a tall cool drink on a hot parched day – be refreshed in His presence today!
