“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
Beloved,
Every day in every season is a time to relish the grace and glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The summer offers a particularly wonderful opportunity to bask in the gift of God’s grace. The sun stays up longer, the days are filled with laughter and fun, and summer provides the opportunity for rest and recreation. I hope and pray you take advantage of the opportunity the summer affords for God’s people.
Let us rejoice in the beauty of the summer, but let us not forsake our souls. John Piper writes, “God made summer as a foretaste of heaven, not a substitute.” I want to encourage you to take time this summer to work on cultivating your souls. Memorize a long passage of Scripture. Read a theologically challenging book. Go on a short-term mission trip. Spend time building deeper relationships with church members. Rekindle your daily time in God’s Word. Read a biography of a great Christian missionary.
Summer was created for the glory of Jesus Christ for all things in heaven and earth were created for His glory. Allow the sun for summer point you to the Son of salvation. Allow the waters of the pool point you to the cleansing water of regeneration (Titus 3:4). Allow the long summer days point you to the everlasting day of eternal life.
The Lord shows his kindness in different ways and in different seasons. I beseech you by the mercy of God, to offer your summer to Christ as a living sacrifice. Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind this summer season. For everything, there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven so be intentional this summer to experience more of the grace of Jesus Christ.
Hear these words from John Piper,
In the summer the earth is very much with us. And it is God’s earth! But it is all prelude to the real drama of heaven. It is a foretaste of the real banquet. It is a video preview to the reality of what the eternal summer will be like when “The city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:23). So you see: 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. Seek that this summer.
May the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, give you a glimpse of his glory and a foretaste of heavenly bliss this summer.
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