[Thursday's Devotional] - Autumn

When I think of Autumn, I am reminded of walks through rustling leaves, beautiful colours all around me and the expectation of my approaching birthday. There is also a tinge of sadness as the long summer holidays draw to a close, but an expectation of what a new term will bring as we enter a new season.

Autumn is a time of visible change and inevitable decay. A time when all around us seems to be fading away. It can be a time of sadness as we witness our hard work dying off, and look ahead to the bleakness of the Winter that will follow afterwards.

Provided you have been diligent, however, and have tended your crops during the summer, autumn is the time of harvest and the season when you will see evidence of your hard work. It is a time of harvesting and storing up fruits in readiness for the winter.

Autumn also helps us to see the passage of time – it is a time to reflect on where we have come from and where we need to go. This is the season filled with anticipation. Autumn is a season of fruition and reaping. It is a season of thanksgiving and celebration and a season of encouragement as we witness the changes in God's earth and in His kingdom. Autumn may also be the time to resume old routines. Autumn brings the last of the warmth and comfort before the cold of winter. It is a time of both beginnings and endings.

If you are in an Autumn season, be thankful to God for all that he has done in and through you in the previous seasons. Take time to be with Him and to harvest all the gifts He has blessed you with, store them away safely ready to face the battles in the forthcoming season. Be thankful for the things that are coming to an end, and for the new beginnings that will one day come.

Corinne Mason