Back To School

Each year when autumn approaches while some mourn the passing of summer, I feel a mental and emotional quickening. I can sense that it's Back-to-School time. I like the fun and the freedom of summer, but there is something invigorating about heading into autumn. The signs that the casual, laid-back, easygoing days of summer are drawing to a close are obvious...

• People scrambling to take last minute vacations.
• Young men gathering on football fields for conditioning and two-a-day practices.
• Parents taking their children to the mall for new school clothes.
• Stores sculpting mountains of school supplies into prominent displays.
• School bus drivers practicing their new routes swirling crispy leaves in their wake.

The transition from summer to school is, for many, quite an adjustment. One of the hardest things for me was that it meant that my days were no longer my own—I had to live my life by the schedule the school district set for me. Ironically, that was also one of the most rewarding aspects about going back to school. By the end of August, I was usually pretty bored and (though I wouldn't have admitted it) really looked forward to the challenging and purposeful pattern of the fall. I think that the same is true in the spiritual realm. Living unto ourselves is not fulfilling. It's hard to rearrange our days and live according to someone else's timetable, but, when it's God's schedule to which we conform our lives it's the most fulfilling thing we can do. 

There is a less pleasant option and that is to stop learning, stop growing, and stop participating in the great mission of God. That would be a waste for each and every one of us that make up the church.

It seems to me as though the signs of the times and the Word of God corroborate that the easy days of our long spiritual summer are drawing to a close. The Lord is calling His children Back-to-School. Is your heart beginning to sense that we are entering a new season in Christ? There are new things he wants us to learn; a new schedule he is calling us to follow; and new spiritual skills he is suggesting that we begin to practice more diligently! 

According to His Word, He is calling us to gather together relationally (Hebrews 10:25), to begin to condition ourselves in the Word and in prayer (2 Timothy 2:15), to put on our new school clothes (2 Corinthians 5:1-4; 1 Peter 5:5) and gather the supplies we will need (Philippians 4:19) to participate in his plan.

It is to my benefit that I enthusiastically submit my life to the Lord's back-to-school schedule, even if it means some early mornings and some late nights. I am reminded that:

• I have wasted enough time living for myself the way the ungodly do (1 Peter 4:3-4).
• I have been redeemed with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
• I am no longer my own (Romans 14:7-8).
• I have been given a great and purposeful commission (Matthew 28:18-20).
• I need to be redeem the time (Ephesians 5:15-17), bear good fruit (John 15:8), and be alert, ready, and dressed for my Lord's return (Luke 12:46; Romans 13:11-12).
                                            

Waiting expectantly for the school bus,

Pastor Greg