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