Jump Start # 3441

Jeremiah 8:20 “Harvest is past, summer is ended, and we are not saved.”

  Here we are at the beginning of November. The year is nearly over. We are quickly heading to some major holidays and then the year will be wrapped up. Our verse today came to my mind. Harvest is past. Here in Indiana, the beans and corn have been harvested. Summer is ended. The nights are longer and the air is cool. It’s time for jackets and sweaters and before long we will be digging out scarfs, boots and mittens.

Here are some lessons for us:

First, there is a season for certain things and once those seasons are over, the time has past. This is especially true in parenting. One can’t put raising children on hold. While we are busy with our careers, settling into a home, we can’t put parenting off. There is a season to teach. There is a season to reason. There is a season in which you advice. Then there is a season in which the kids help you. One doesn’t plant corn in November, not around here. It’s too late. And, when we are too late with our children, our greatest time to influence them and guide them has past as well.

Second, seasons seems to go by quickly. It’s funny how life is. One would think the older you get the slower things would be, but it’s not that way. Time seems to fly by at a rapid speed. And, what that means is that summer will end and the harvest is past and we are not saved. We can spend a lifetime of doing things that really do not matter. The prophet in our passage was telling the nation that the time was up. God had sent prophet after prophet. They ignored them. They put Jeremiah in a pit. And, now, the nation had run out of time. The end was coming. And, the same will be true of us.

There are always books we wanted to read but never got to them. Movies we wanted to watch but didn’t have the time. But the greater things of encouraging someone, helping someone, growing in the Lord, are things that just cannot pass by. We must be diligent about these things. Be devoted to prayer is what the Roman brethren were told.

Is there a conversation that you need to have with someone about their walk with the Lord? When are you going to do that? Is there someone that you need to apologize to? When are you going to do that? Got some things you need to talk to the Lord about? When is that going to happen? The harvest will pass. Summer will be over and we haven’t done the most important things.

The rich farmer in the Lord’s parable never knew what time it was. He was thinking about building barns, taking it easy and enjoying life. His summer passed that night. The foolish virgins who went looking for oil weren’t ready. They showed up at the wedding late. The door was shut and they were not allowed in. The harvest was past. Summer was over. They were lost.

Third, today is the best day to do things. Today is the only day we have. We can’t rewind life and relive yesterday, nor can we fast forward life to tomorrow. Today is all there is. Today is all that the President has. Today is all that the preacher has. Today is all that the bored teen has. Today is all that the busy mom has. Today. But put enough of those today’s together and you have a lifetime.

As we flip the calendar to November, pause and remember that the harvest is past. Summer has ended. Are we saved? That’s the question that is most important.

Roger

Jump Start # 1962

Jeremiah 8:20 “Harvest is past, summer is ended, and we are not saved.”

What an interesting expression we find here in Jeremiah, “Summer is ended, and we are not saved.” It comes from a long and sad section in which the prophet tells the nation of coming doom. The idolatry and apostasy of the nation has led to this punishment from the Lord. Warning after warning has come and the people ignored it and did not see it. The stork in the sky knows the seasons, yet My people, the Lord declared, do not know the ordinance of the Lord. Our verse, ‘harvest is past, summer is ended,’ shows that the people have gone past God’s patience. Time has run out. It’s too late now.

The harvest and the summer, physically, were the times to gather and store crops for the coming winter. Missing the harvest, meant one was not prepared. No food was stored up. Some of us remember seeing our parents or grandparents, canning beans and putting up other produce during the harvest season. If one waited too late, the crops went bad and there was nothing to store up. Jesus used a similar thought in the Gospel of John. He told the disciples to lift up their eyes and look upon the fields. They were white unto harvest. Do not say there are yet four months until harvest. Now was the time.

This verse is fitting for my area. It’s cool this morning. There is talk of frost. There are things that must be done before winter. The thought from Jeremiah and the thought from John are not preparing food, but preparing our souls and our hearts. Like the farmer who doesn’t recognize what season he’s in, we can do the same spiritually. We put things off. We wait for a better time. We look for that convenient season. And before we know it, summer is ended, and we are not saved.

Some thoughts for us:

First, the seasons come and go according to God’s plan of nature, not our time table. We may want more summer to go out and play, but the rainy fall is upon us. These seasons move not by our schedule. The same is true with our health and our lives spiritually. We may be real busy right now in life. Demands at work, kids at home. Just no time. Pulled every direction. When things so down, we say to ourselves, then we will get busy in God’s kingdom. That may never happen. Things may never slow down. Work it in. Find a way. Seek first the kingdom. I can’t wait until the fall, and then decide to harvest. It will be too late.

Second, the harvest passes by often times because we fiddled around too much and wasted time and didn’t recognize the urgency of the day. When the Galatians were told “As you have opportunity, let us do good…” , those opportunities come and go whether we are ready or not. An opportunity to speak to someone about Jesus. They may even bring it up. But we’re busy. We’re juggling too many things. We’ll get too it. Next thing we know, summer has ended. The person is no longer interested, or they are at least no longer interested in listening to you. An opportunity to encourage someone. They are going through a tough time. Maybe they have been in the hospital. You plan to stop by and lift their spirits. But this and that happens, and you put it off. Summer passes. They are not only home from the hospital, but they are back to services and you didn’t do anything.

Third, harvest passes quickly in our families. Those little ones grow fast. Opportunities to show them how to be a servant, to let them see you teaching Bible classes, to have those important lessons around the dinner table, the season will pass very quickly. Next thing you know, they are dating. You haven’t really talked to them yet about purity and how to be on dates. You turn around and there is talk about marriage. There is so much that they need to know. Have they been taught how to be responsible with money? Do they understand leadership in the home? Have they thought about how a marriage can help them or cripple them before the Lord? So much to talk about. But now, summer is ending. Where have you been?

Fourth, the harvest passes quickly in our lives. It seems when we are in school, the clock stops and the calendar turns so slowly. But once school is finished, life flies. You are thirty. Then forty-five. Then sixty. Retirement talk. Empty nesters. Down sizing. Now, there is no stopping that calendar. It turns so fast. We know there are fewer and fewer years ahead of us. What have we done? What have we accomplished? Not, houses. Not 401’s. Not careers. But for the Lord. What have we done for the congregation we have worshipped with. We may have been with a church for decades. Have we done anything? Sure we have picked up things that the church offered. We’ve grown spiritually. But what have we added? What good has our presence done? There was talk once about serving as a deacon and later an elder, but we turned it down quickly. Not the right time we said. Too busy we said. And now, summer is ending on our lives here. What footprints have we left for the next generation to follow? What example of service have we provided? Other than showing up, have we added any value to the kingdom? The harvest is past. Summer has ended. What have we done?

Fifth, unlike Jeremiah’s sad lament for the nation, we still have opportunity. Our harvest is only past when we are no longer here. There is still that opportunity to step up things spiritually. Find that young preacher out there, and encourage him. Find that young family, and shock them by all the good that you can do for them. Find that young heart and mentor them. Blow the dust off your books and get studying and teach some classes. Get out some nice dishes and invite some families into your home. It’s time to stop thinking about stuff and start doing. The air is cool. Summer is passing. There is no going back, not for this year. You may have wasted years, and not been as you should. There is no going back. But you can do what you should with what remains. Make a difference. Pour your heart, time and even money into the kingdom. Someday, we will be finished here. What will be said about your time here? How will brethren remember you? Have you helped any?

The harvest is past. Summer is over. We are lost. Sad, sad words. But reminders to each of us. Those same sad words do not have to be our story. Let’s get busy. We know what to do.

Roger