[Wednesday's Devotional] - Summer

Summer is the season of fruitfulness and beauty where flowers and fruits are in full bloom and ready to be used. The summer time is a season we all look forward to, knowing it will bring times we can enjoy, and a world that explodes into colour, beauty and fruitfulness. It is a season that should bring joy to all who witness it.

It is also the season of watering (praying) and weeding (doing warfare over) the freshly planted crop. It is a time in which the crop is in potential danger from the heat of summer, so we need to be prepared to continuously water the crop by tending to it. It is generally a season of contentment, but it can also be easy to just sit back and enjoy it, rather than keep up with it by tending and weeding it.

The summer usually (!) brings with it the sunshine, and it can be a time when we most feel the "Son" shining on us too. We feel we are fulfilling what we were planted with and have been blessed with -  the opportunity to tend and grow God's crop. Just as we need sunscreen to protect our physical bodies from the summertime, we must remember to put on our spiritual protection from the summer too. As we set out to tend the crops we must put on our spiritual armour to guard and protect us for the fight.

" Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people." Ephesians 6:13-18 [NIV]

If you are in a summer season make sure you do not become complacent about tending the crops God has given you to guard over, and be sure to share your fruits with those in a bleaker season too. As we each journey through different seasons, it is important we share and look after each other – and in the summer time there is much to be sharing. God has blessed you in order for you to give out.

Corinne Mason.