Making the Most of Your SummerПримерок

Every season has a gift in it.

My friend Jenn hates winter, but she's discovering that winter is an invitation to rest.

My friend Eric loves fall because he loves football, and he gets to watch football with his son.

My wife loves spring - a time when she can begin digging in her garden again every weekend!

Making the most of any season of the year or life is less about forcing that season to be what you want it to be and more about looking for the opportunity and invitation present in that season.

The most beautiful passage of Scripture about seasons is Ecclesiastes 3.

"There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance."

As I write this devotion today, the temperature is warming. My kids are counting down the days remaining in the school year. We're heading towards the summer season on the calendar, and circumstances are providing opportunities that may not be present again.

Over the five days in this plan, I encourage you to consider how to make the most of this summer and whatever season you are standing in today.

In the opening of chapter 3, the writer notes that there is a time for everything and a season for every activity. Please pause momentarily and consider, "What is the summer a time for? What kind of activities is this season in your life suited for?"

Making the most of your summer is less about doing what everyone else does or what you've always done. Making the most of your summer is more about asking God, "What are You doing in this season? How can I join You in what You are doing?"

It's often easy to miss when God is at work because we are too busy and our lives are too loud. I've missed opportunities to share the Gospel with people because I was distracted by something I was watching on TV. I've missed chances to snuggle with my kids and tell them stories because I had something "really important" to do for work. I've ignored my wife mid-sentence because of a text message I got on my phone.

Opportunities in life are like gallons of milk at the grocery store. When you open the cold case, you see an expiration date on the carton. That's when the milk expires, after which it can be dangerous to drink because it can become sour. Like drinking a gallon of milk before it expires, the opportunities God sends us have expiration dates. We don't need to rush, but we do need to live with urgency and expectancy.

Therefore, I encourage you to read Ecclesiastes 3 today and consider your summer. What do you want this summer to be about? What is God doing in your life this summer?

Tomorrow, we'll examine the first of four elements of a plan to make the most of this summer. I can't wait to share these four elements with you!