Seasons

Patterns tell a story and yet they are open to interpretation. As a child did you ever sit with friends or siblings and gaze up into the sky as you searched out varying figurine formations as the clouds moved and changed shape? It was a game filled with a stretch of imaginations. Then you have patterns on a canvas that are valued at astronomical sums of money, depending upon the artists value,  with the posh side of society visiting museums placing their own independent interpretation to the masterpiece, I suppose it leaves them rather gratified and with a sense of self-worth. Place a simple man under the breadline fighting for his daily bread in the same room and you would leave clutching at straws if he was asked to interpret a Van Gogh masterpiece. I am not suggesting that he would not have an opinion about the painting but it would be a very bland interpretation allowing the social climber to undermine the individual as pride’s gapping arm pats his own ego. Now to be fair to the art lover, I have not personally singled out those in the know, but rather used it to illustrate a point. Psychologists get a child to draw a picture to help them understand what they sense the child’s perceptions are. Patterns, pictures and habits all tell their own story. We must learn to read between the lines…

It’s one thing to get to grips with an individual but quite another to get to grips with what God is telling us through His signs and we need to pay attention to His warnings if it is to end well for us. God has given us seasons to prepare us for varying elements, in summer we wear T-Shirts whilst in winter we wear jackets and jerseys. King Solomon, king David’s son penned this truth for us; “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)     

 If and when God decides that there is value to pen what is written in the Holy Bible we better understand that it is there for a reason and it would be wise of us to explore the explanations for it. For He reveals his Character in and through the written words found inscribed in the Bible. When God saved His people out of the land of Egypt from their slavery led by Moses, He called a meeting with Moses on Mount Sinai and used his finger to inscribe the Ten Commandments onto tablets of stone. He chose words to help his people understand what was needed from them to keep them in line. They failed dismally, will we?

However God being merciful is patient with us all but there will come a day where His judgements will play out as it is written. He has given us varying accounts to show us that He is a God of His word.

Mercy then judgement; warnings then a sentence, and so on, although we are now in the season of mercy the day will soon arrive when His wrath will materialize. He will soon judge both the living and the dead; “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15) – What then is the lesson? Whilst we still have breath we most certainly have hope. But this hope will not remain open forever, therefore it is imperative that we make the most of the time we have left. Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus whilst there is still time for us to be heard, this must now become of utmost importance to all of us that still breathe  and who remain alive and well. For we will eventually run out of time and no one knows the final hour of our existence except God!

It is the season for us to sit up and to take note of our lives and to ponder our futures in eternity, the time for games is soon to end, let us therefore be serious and seek out God’s grace for our lives whilst it is still day.

My prayer is for God to give us an urgency to be serious about His call upon our lives.

Signing off

Tyrone