Changing of Seasons

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Summer is coming to an end, school is starting, and we are once again reminded of the rhythm of the seasons and of life. There are mornings and evenings, the weeks and months pass by, and we are both antagonized and reassured. We are antagonized by the knowledge that “all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall . . .(Isa. 40)” -- life is precious but brief. Luke and I went to see the Etowah Indian Mounds last Friday and saw some very impressive trees on the banks of the river. I remarked to Luke that these trees were there when the Native American Indians actually lived there, and the wonder in his eyes was beautiful. I thought about how these trees would still be growing by that river long after I walk this earth. Nevertheless, we are also reassured by the changing seasons of time. There is a comfortable ritual about knowing that Fall follows Summer and that soon Winter will come. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven . . .(Ecc. 3:1)” God has so ordained life that there is a variety of seasons, but also a secure order of time. This reminds us that although our earthly life is fleeting, we have security in the knowledge of eternal life with an everlasting God. “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:13-17).
Selah.
Steve