Planning for summer

Have you got any plans? What about the holidays? Do you have any dates in the diary? These and many more questions are asked time and time again at this time of the year. The sun is out and it’s beginning to look like the winter is past and spring has come, so you can get your summer clothes out and plan. So, how are your plans going? For many people, the planning process and the expectation of holidays are almost as good as the holiday itself. I wouldn’t go that far, but I know what they mean. Anticipation and the prospect of getting away and enjoying the break can be very liberating.

 

Some people get to a stage in life when they feel they have nothing to look forward to. That is so sad, but I can see where they are coming from. If you think that this life is all there is, then it would be pretty logical to get depressed as you get older. Most of us accept that the ageing process will mean adjusting what we do to match our physical ability or energy levels. You can still live an interesting and exciting life if you keep the right attitude and take change in your stride.

What if you could discover the true meaning of life?

All photos used courtesy of Unsplash

I want to ask you today the same question that the James (one of the writers of the New Testament in the Bible) asked nearly 2000 years ago - "What is your life?". What's it all about? Songs have been written about it; films have been produced about it.  For many, there is no greater question to be answered and yet most people believe that they probably will never ever find the true answer.

Long Days of Summer

 

Midsummer day is here, writes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall, in fact it was yesterday. The sun will be at its highest overhead, and the hours of daylight will be at their longest for another year.

For us in Fife there is very little real darkness overnight just now, and the farther north you go the less darkness there is. Within the Arctic Circle the sun does not dip below the northern horizon for a few weeks, and it seems that day never ends. Of course, in midwinter it’s a different story! Don’t think we’d like 24-hour darkness, and cold too! So make the most of these evenings when daylight stretches on until after 10 p.m., or these bright mornings if you get up with the lark. Each day is important, use it well.

Changing the Clocks

 

At the weekend, our clocks go forward an hour, and we move into British

Summer Time, notes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall. It is called

British Summer Time, but British summer is a more distant prospect at

the moment!

We will get many reminders to adjust our timepieces before it is officially

due. Still, some folk manage to overlook it, and the next day they find out

that they are out of step with everyone else. Because different people’s

lifestyles are affected in different ways by the change, the need to go

from Greenwich Mean Time to British Summer Time in March and back

again in October is often questioned. But in the meantime, we do it.

Although we can change the time on our clocks, we cannot change time

itself, nor change the regularity of the seasons of the year. These are

linked to the movements of the Earth in its orbit around the sun, 93 million

miles away, just the right distance for life to exist here. Closer to the sun

and everything would roast and expire; farther away and everything

would literally freeze to death. This did not come about by chance. The

God who created the whole universe at the beginning designed Earth to

support life in all its variety.

Long Summer Days are passing

For us in Fife, there has been very little real darkness overnight during these recent weeks, notes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall, and the farther north you go, the less darkness there is just now. Within the Arctic Circle, the sun does not dip below the northern horizon for several weeks, and it feels as if the day never ends. Of course, in midwinter it's a different story! I don't think we'd like 24 hours of darkness and cold for weeks on end!

So, as planet Earth gradually tilts our northern hemisphere away from the sun, let's enjoy these long (but shortening) days of summer while they last.

The Bible speaks about days, but these are not always 24-hour periods; instead, they represent a set period with a definite beginning and end. For example, this is the "day of grace" when God offers complete salvation from sin to everyone through personal faith in Jesus Christ. It has lasted for a long time, for roughly 2000 years in fact.

There will also be a day of judgment, when "every one of us will give account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12). This day has not arrived yet.

When we see so many wicked things happening in so many parts of the world - exploitation, corruption, deception, destruction and the like - sometimes we wonder why God does not stop it all and bring forward the day of judgment? The Bible explains that it is because "God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).

This "day of grace" will come to an end sometime, perhaps soon. Please ensure you don't miss God's offer of salvation before it's too late. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved now.

Written by a Guest Blogger

Is this the middle of summer?”

Midsummer’s day has arrived – hopefully a token of warmer days to come, but not too hot we hope for comfort’s sake! Although midsummer brings us the longest daylight hours, it doesn’t seem to us that this is the middle of summer! Very little of our summer appears to have arrived yet, but we do hope it will last a while.

Just as midsummer’s day is not like the middle of our summer, midday doesn’t feel like the middle of the day either, even though the sun is at its highest overhead. For most of us in this part of the world much more of our day comes after midday, even stretching to midnight sometimes, and that’s not the middle of the night either!

We know that “mid” does not always mean “middle” or centre. But halfway or “the middle” is often a significant point to reach in projects we plan, in journeys we make, in holidays we enjoy, in books we read, and so on.

In a book I love to read the middle point is very interesting. The book is the Bible. It’s a big book with 1,189 chapters and 31,102 verses. The middle verses are the first two in Psalm 103. They say, “Bless the Lord O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all His benefits.”

It’s easy to forget about God and how good He is to us. This Psalm reminds us of how He cares for us daily, providing what our bodies and minds need. It also reminds us of His love in providing eternal salvation to our souls when we put our trust in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you done that? This midsummer why not take time to read this Psalm and reflect on all that God has done for you?

Written by a Guest Blogger

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

Summer has gone, Autumn is passing . . .

 

By the time you read this column, the summer will nearly be over, and many people will be heading back to work, children to school and young adults off to university.

 

Many years ago, in farming communities, the end of the summer, the harvest's completion, and the crops' gathering was a great social event. It was often seen as a time of new beginnings, a fresh start, and when the cycle of life began again. 

 

The Bible develops this idea by calling people to enjoy a fresh start in their relationship with God. Jeremiah, one of the ancient prophets of Israel, wrote the following words - ‘The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved,’ Jer. 8. 20. Jeremiah is often described as the ‘weeping prophet’. A prophet in Bible times was a man who brought God’s message to the citizens of his country (and sometimes other nations). He was commissioned by ‘the Almighty’ to communicate a straightforward and specific message. Jeremiah had been doing this for a long time. He had become discouraged and downhearted with the lack of response from the nation he spoke to. It is recorded in Jeremiah chapter nine verse one that the Prophet was brokenhearted and wept over the state of his nation - ‘If only my head were a pool of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night for all my people’^[1]. 

Any thinking person should be very upset at the state of our nation. We live in days when there is no absolute right and wrong, truth is traded for lies, people are free to do what is right in their own eyes, and we are often very self-centred. I believe God is very upset that we have moved so far away from the morals and values He designed us to live by. 

It could be said of us - ‘The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved,’ Jeremiah 8:20. As a society, we have lost our way.

 

However, as individuals, we still have an opportunity to make things right. God is calling our nation to repent of our evil and the pain we have brought upon each other by breaking God’s moral law. This change of mind and heart starts with individuals!

 

We can be saved and rescued from God's judgment against our sins. This is the very reason Jesus came. The Bible unequivocally states, ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,’ 1 Tim 1.15. This is a message of hope and encouragement that should fill us with optimism. 

 

If we follow the advice of scripture and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, realising that he died and rose from the dead to take the punishment for our sins, and if we accept him as our Saviour and Lord, we will be saved.

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^[1] https://www.bible.com/bible/116/jer.9.1-2.NLT

All photos courtesy of Unsplash