TEXT:

‘The people cry out, “The summer is gone, the harvest is over, but we have not been saved.”’ (Jeremiah 8:20 GNT).

Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. God called him to prophesy about the consequences of Israel’s wilful disobedience and idolatry. He spoke about coming judgment and saw firsthand the destruction of Jerusalem and thousands of Jews exiled to Babylon. He suffered persecution because he spoke the truth. His tears weren’t just for his own pain and suffering, but for God’s people and the misery they would suffer. Hundreds of years later, Jesus experienced the same grief saying, ’O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!’ (Matthew 23:37).

1. The Blessings of Summer

There are three blessings about summer that lift people’s spirits including mine!

• Heat

The coolness and rain of Spring turns to warm, sunny days and long evenings of daylight. It’s the time for T Shirts and shorts! It’s wonderful to feel the warmth of the sun on one’s back.

• Holidays

The schools break up for the summer holidays. Living in Cornwall, some weeks we can have up to one million tourists, crowding onto the lovely, sandy beaches, and walking around the beautiful coastline. Many choose to go abroad, but the South-West of England is so popular due to the ease of travel getting there, if one can avoid the traffic jams!

• Harvest

So many of the UK’s main crops are harvested during the summer months. We’ve just enjoyed a bumper crop from our fig tree, as well as runner beans. Unlike many African countries where it’s possible to have two or three harvests a year, it’s usually only one harvest for us and the supermarkets will abound with locally grown fruit and vegetables. Jenny and I often enjoy strawberries, scones and cream as we travel around our county.

2. The danger of focussing solely on natural needs

A bumper harvest can lull us into a false sense of security as Jesus warned in the parable of the Rich Fool (See Luke 12:16-21). To store his bumper harvest, he pulled down his barns and built bigger ones, declaring he was now self-sufficient. He could eat, drink and be merry! Jesus called him foolish because he had not thought about eternity, nor had he stored up any treasure in heaven.

The people cried out, ‘We are not saved’. The financial security of a good harvest was often short-lived because that was the time when the enemy chose to attack, taking everything and leaving them nothing to live on. God’s promise of protection for unguarded towns and villages when the Children of Israel went to Jerusalem to worship was now a thing of the past, because of the nation’s persistent sin and idolatry. The enemy seemed to be able to come and go at will and God’s people were the poorer for it. How they longed for God’s protection once again.

Jesus said, ‘What profit is there if you gain the whole world—and lose eternal life? What can be compared with the value of eternal life?’ (Matthew 16:26 TLB). The question everyone needs to ask themself is, “What provision am I making for my spiritual needs?”, because the spiritual is as real as the natural.

3. The Blessing of knowing you are saved

A fellow-golfer recently asked me, “Why do you believe in a Bible that’s so old?” I believe it because it has the answer to eternal life. ‘Jesus’ disciples saw him do many other miracles besides the ones told about in this book, but these are recorded so that you will believe that he is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that believing in him you will have life’ (John 20:31 TLB).

I often think, “What hope could an unbeliever give to someone who is near death and afraid of dying?” What could they say that would be true and comforting? What a difference for a Christian who could say, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved’ (Acts 16:31). Then that person could leave this life in peace.

Jesus was asked, ‘Lord, will only a few be saved?’ (Luke 13:23 NLT). The good news is that God has made it abundantly clear He does not want anyone to be lost. ‘For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life’ (John 3:16 TLB).

It’s settled on God’s side, but what about on yours?