The tell-tale signs of the summer days have arrived. The most obvious are that the temperatures are rising and everybody is wearing their flip-flops. The school play grounds are empty and the sandy beaches are full with families and friends enjoying the sand and waves. Another sign of summer is that for most of us there are dates on our calendar’s with a line drawn through with bold words that say, “vacation”. That long-awaited and well planned time of the year when we look forward to rest, relaxation and no schedules to keep. I personally enjoy the fact that summer seems to slow down my pace just a little bit and I can appreciate the flowers in bloom and the birds singing in my backyard. Thank you God for summer!
I do believe this can be a wonderful time to just breathe and take some much-needed opportunity to refresh our minds and bodies from the frantic pace of life. However, there is also a great challenge that comes with the season. Our time in God’s word, prayer and in the house of the Lord can often be neglected.
Instead of approaching summer as a time to go deeper in our walk with Christ, we find ourselves putting our spiritual life on the back seat until our women’s bible study resumes in the fall. Does that sound familiar? It may not be intentional or deliberate, but we often associate our spiritual disciplines with the same mentality as work and school. Time off and vacation is all we focus on because after all who wants to maintain a routine in the precious few weeks we have all to ourselves, right?
We can look at our walk with God as another thing on our check list and allow summer to dictate the other things we’d rather do, or we can reframe our attitude and see the weeks ahead as a precious gift from God to keep growing in our relationship with Him. Did you notice I said “relationship” and not routine? How eager will you be to keep talking, listening and sharing time with those closest to your hearts this summer? Your husband, your children or your best friend will be a vital part of your community in the days ahead. What about Jesus and His word?
Here are some helpful tips for all of us to enrich our summer days with our Savior and not allow the most important relationship on earth to wither during the next few weeks.
1. Ask a friend to do a bible study with you. You can choose a book of the bible such as Ephesians or Philippians and use a study guide to help you understand what your learning. I also suggest “Becoming A Woman of Excellence” by Cynthia Heald.
2. Once you have a book you will study look at the number of chapters and have a start date and finish date to keep you and your study friend accountable. Being intentional is not legalistic, it’s a great step in maturity.
Keep your bible and journal by your coffee pot. Have your bible open as a constant reminder to spend time in it at the beginning of your day. I’ve done this for years and its so helpful!
3. Reframe your priorities! What is absolutely essential and what might you need to say “no” to in order to keep thriving in your walk with the Lord over the summer.
Read the Psalmist passion for the word of God and God Himself. I pray this will cause us to thirst for more of our Lord and His word in these summer days!
Psalm 1
Psalm 5:3
Psalm 9:1-10
Psalm 91:1-2
Psalm 73:25-26
Psalm 84
Psalm 119:1-5, 18, 30, 36-38, 114, 133, 165