Hello everyone:
“I love fall! Fall is my favorite time of year!” someone recently told me. It’s hard not to agree. What’s not to love? Trees become stunning beacons of brilliant reds, yellows, and orange. Mosquitoes have disappeared. Brisk and invigorating mornings warm to comfortable afternoons. There is a lot to love about fall, but…
It would be a mistake not to prepare for what’s coming. To simply enjoy fall and ignore prepping the furnace for winter would be foolish. To go out the door each morning with no thought of checking the closet to make sure the wool coat is ready is to be unprepared for the below zero temps to come. Fall is a season to appreciate, but also one in which to get ready for what lies ahead.
That is even more crucial in our spiritual lives. “Living for the moment” and enjoying the blessings of pleasant weather, food, clothes, home, job, family and friends is a gift from our loving God. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights” (James 1:17). There is much to be thankful for here on earth, but…
It would be a terrible mistake to live as though this life and what it offers are all that there is. Rather, the Lord tells us that this life is a time of preparation to get ready for what lies ahead. This life is a time of grace which the Lord graciously provides for us and all mankind to learn the truth about our sinful condition and to hear the news of our Savior who came to rescue us from eternal death by suffering the punishment for all sin on the cross. Jesus stresses, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26).
So this weekend and always, may we appreciate and enjoy the earthly blessings God provides, but at the same time, never lose sight of those gifts which are of infinitely greater value: forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and the certainty of the life to come in glory everlasting.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor
