DON’T
LET SUMMER SHRIVEL YOUR SOUL
In the middle of winter when darkness falls at 4:30
in the afternoon we look forward with great anticipation to those long days of
summer. As spring comes, the hope of summer becomes a closer reality and
suddenly summer is here! That long awaited season for eating on
patios, beach barbecues, weekends away, hikes in the mountain, camping at the
beach and a million other refreshing summer adventures. After a season of work
or school or even both simultaneously, not to mention the many other
responsibilities that keep our schedules 110% booked, we need a time to finally
slow down and rest.
But will warmer weather and summer fun really bring
the rest we need? John Piper writes, “Don’t let summer make your soul shrivel.
God made summer as a foretaste of heaven, not a substitute. If the mailman
brings you a love letter from your fiancé, don’t fall in love with the mailman.
That’s what summer is: God’s messenger with a sun-soaked, tree-green,
flower-blooming, lake-glistening letter of love to show us what he is planning
for us in the age to come.” Summer rest is a foretaste of the rest to come in
Christ.
True rest is found only in Jesus. He calls us,
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28).
The gospel of Christ is a call to stop our striving and rest. God, through
Isaiah, said “in returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in
trust shall be your strength” (Isa 30:15). The gospel calls us to quit our
striving, our effort to vindicate and prove ourselves, and to rest in the
finished work of Christ. The gospel sets us free from anxiety, stress and
striving and allows us to trust in God’s providence and enjoy his grace. The
gospel promises you that you are loved with the same tenacity and depth on the
days when you conquer the world as on the days you sleep in the sun.
Here is true rest for your soul. Resting with a new
identity in Christ. Resting in the truth that Christ has already earned perfect
righteousness and gifted it to you. Resting in the sovereign grace of God.
A Christ-less summer will never provide the rest
that your soul craves. When the substance is traded in for the preview, we miss
out on true rest. A summer of pursuing rest without pursuing Christ will only
shrivel our soul and leave us ultimately dissatisfied.
Pastor
David Jones (excerpts from S.K.)