Ready for Summer

Summer is upon us, so let’s pause and make sure we’re really ready for all that the season brings.  I don’t mean ready with sun-screen or a new BBQ grill, but with spiritual resolve to grow strong in Jesus during this odd season.  Here are a couple challenges:

• Don’t “bail” on the church—you need your church family and they need you all year round.  Baseball is seasonal; so are garden­ing and golf and surfing.  But being the body of Christ is not seasonal.
• Don’t take a vacation from your regular spiritual practices—from reading Scripture carefully (with your own Bible, pen in hand) and responding to God’s Word in prayer.  Summer’s disruptions make it all the more crucial to stay close to Jesus.  The rest of the year our more regular schedules help us keep our bearings (as the creatures of habit we are).  But summer throws a curve.  So brace yourself, and make plans now so that shifting schedules don’t side-swipe your walk with Christ.

In an article on the “Summer Mindset,” John Piper counsels all who yearn for R&R:  “Jesus Christ is refreshing.  Flight from him into Christless leisure makes the soul parched…  Don’t let sum­mer make your soul shrivel.”  This is God’s good earth.  “But it is all prelude to the real drama of heaven.  It is a foretaste of the real banquet.”  The heavenly city “has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev 21:23).  “The summer sun is a mere pointer to the sun that will be.  The glory of God.  Summer is for seeing and showing that.  Will we have eyes to see?  Do you want to have eyes to see?  Lord, let us see the light beyond the light.”

I hope you find time to get some R&R this summer—we all need it.  But even more, I hope we all step into the season ready to seek Christ and his kingdom, serve his church, love our neighbors, and shine his Gospel light for lost sun-worshippers to see!