“As the deer pants for water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. Where can I find him to come and stand before him?” (Psalm 42:1-2, TLB)
Summer is in full bloom. Color explodes from both well attended gardens and forgotten ditches along the roads. Summer is full. Full of light as the days lengthen from light, work and leisure. We become excited, basking in the warmth, the events, family time and the just the good old summertime. For many of us, we feel somewhat deprived when it comes to the summer season because it just doesn’t seem long enough compared to the rest of the year. The summer is incredibly busy and we put great amounts of energy into projects, teams, gardens, work, and relaxation. Usually we get a lot of enjoyment during this season in the process. Still there is also a sense at the end of the season, that change has taken place, there has been growth, and there is at least some sense of progress on most projects and there is a harvest. This happens in our personal life and it is evident and true in the world of nature created and designed by our gracious Father in heaven.
It is in the three or four months of the summer that trees and plants pull in most of the nutrients they need for growth, that their roots slowly lengthen and tap new sources of water and their leaves soak in the sunlight and in amazing way transform that warmth into color, flowers and fruit. It is in the fullness of the summer season with all this activity; that plants bring in the sustenance needed both for the growth and continuance of life.
So what are the nutrients that you are pulling into your life during this summer? What water source are your roots trying to tap into when you are thirsty on a hot July day? How is your life being transformed by the true light and what will be the fruit at the harvest time? Do you thirst for the living God?
Enjoy the warm sunny days and let them be full of more than busyness and fun. Take some time to soak up the fullness of God. Take some moments in a shady spot and read His living word. Offer up a few heartfelt and thankful prayers. Take time to draw near to Him, because at the end of the summer, a lot of the sustenance we may need later throughout the year might have to come from this summer’s growth. Life is more than the water we crave on a hot summer day. Our soul can find true nourishment and fulfillment only in a warm grace infused and sustained relationship with the Living God. It is why our Lord came to earth to reconcile us to our Heavenly Father. He brings a full and abundant life which He delivers and fulfills long after any summer season has passed into memory.
Suggested Reading … Psalm 42
