Summertime

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker –Psalm 95:6

June is a great month! The weather is great. The trees are the most beautiful shade of green. Graduation celebrations are in the air. Time for summer vacations. The hectic pace of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter that keeps anyone who works at a church busy is over and we look forward to the much slower pace of the summer months.

But just because the church calendar isn’t quite as demanding, that doesn’t mean that we should take a break from our spiritual lives. We don’t have mid-week services or Bible study or Lenten disciplines to keep us reminded of our lives of discipleship, so we have to work harder to keep up healthy spiritual habits.

It’s really easy to give into the temptation of putting our spiritual lives on hold for the summer. Boating, hiking, picnics and a host of other activities all call to us Sunday morning and we find ourselves “getting an early start” on our activities by skipping worship. The longer daylight hours keep us out longer and when we get home, we don’t have time or energy to give to those good Bible study, prayer or devotional habits we began during Lent. How do we keep focused on Christ when all these wonderful summer activities threaten to pull us away?

We can let the beautiful sunshine remind us to have a thankful heart. Let the rain remind us that God works his purpose in all things. Graduations can make us remember that every day is a new beginning for those who love Christ. And all those wonderful family activities will keep us mindful of the fact that our relationships with one another are far more important than the material things we crave.

Let’s try to keep our discipleship practices sharp during the long season of Pentecost. Pray daily. Worship weekly. Read the Bible. Serve one another. Keep your Christian relationships active through regular fellowship. Give generously. And enjoy the summer!

Creator God,

Thank you for the beauty and slower pace of summer. Help us to remember that we wouldn’t really want to take a vacation from you! Keep us mindful of our healthy spiritual practices. Amen.

Joys: Lot's of family time; Richard cooking supper; short work week.