Summer with Jesus

Summer is about to drop. A lot of churches shut down during the summer which is the opposite of what we saw back in the day. I know I’m old, tired and cynical but when I was a kid, we hired a summer youth guy and he hung out with us all summer long. His name was Coy, and he had a 1967 Ford Country Squire station wagon complete with fake wood down the side. We would call this ride a “tiny house” now because it had the square footage of these small homes they are building on flat bed trailers and calling them affordable housing at $150,000.

Coy loaded the youth group up in his “tiny house” on wheels all summer long and we played a lot of sandlot baseball and we swam. While I don’t remember there must have been some Jesus mixed in. Coy was okay and maybe his strategy was letting us see Jesus versus sitting in a classroom with a study guide and answering questions like being a Christian is a test. (I hope that makes sense.)

My point is summer was a time of discipleship and outreach. A time to be doing something, not a time to be doing nothing.

Jesus said He was always at work (John 5:17). Always means always, doesn’t it? Last time I checked Jesus does not buy board shorts from Howler Bros., a long board from Degree 33, a roof rack for His X1, head for South Padre Island and say, “See you in the fall.”

I like Jesus and I like Him a lot so if He is about lacing up His Red Wing work boots and rolling up His Dickie work shirt sleeves, I want to do the same. Does that track?

The Apostle Paul told the Church at Ephesus in Ephesians 5:15-17, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of your time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

When I read that I hear the Lord saying, “Don’t waste your summer. Don’t be selfish. Don’t serve the little G god of self-pleasure.”

John packs a punch when he wrote 1st John 2:15 that tells us not to “love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

The culture worships summer. I get it. I love vitamin D and would like to do nothing but lie by the pool, drink ice cold Dr Pepper and eat Zero candy bars but God has a mission and purpose for my summer. Like all people who claim to be Christians I have died to myself therefore I join God in His mission and purpose and believe it or not I find more joy, more happiness and great blessings in pleasing Him more than pleasing myself.

He told me to tell you that so let’s go!