How do you feel this last year has gone?
Before summer really sets in I would invite you to take a few moments to think on our last year together. So much of our lives here in Bahrain are tied to the academic school year, aren’t they: lots happens between September and June every year (with a few pauses along the way) and then the summer months are typically much slower. Our transient community experiences such an acute transience every year in July and August.
We began the year back in September ’22 with an exhortation to make the most of the coming ten months. We talked about serving God, serving the church, and serving the community.
Do you feel that you have done so this last year?
Our most recent service was centred on saying what needs saying and drew from Ephesians 4.29:
“You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it would give grace to those who hear.”
The Scriptural command to let no unwholesome word come our of [our mouths] is something that we constantly battle with as fallen and fallible people (Jeremiah 17.9, Luke 6.45). As we move from this current season into summer, as we rest and recharge and prepare to begin anew again in a few weeks’ time, we would all do well to consider how we are interacting with one another in light of passages such as John 13.35 and Matthew 5.22.
As summer takes hold over the coming days I would encourage you to rest. For some, that’s a trip to the beach. For others, an adventure into never-visited countries. However you unwind and decompress, the physical, mental, and emotional rest we take throughout the year is really important: both for us in the here-and-now, but also as a demonstration of the finished work of Jesus on your behalf (Hebrews 4.1-11). If you have the opportunity to slow down this next two months, to live at a less frenetic pace, then take it. There are times of year when life is fast, busy, and feels like a treadmill we cannot get off (December, for example, with the millions of school, work, church, and personal Christmas gatherings). Summer, for many, is not one of those times. Take the opportunity to reconnect with those around you whose friendship you might have neglected. Take the opportunity to go deeper in your knowledge and understanding of God’s Word (2 Peter 3.18). Take the opportunity for a season of rest and recuperation (Genesis 2.3).
Talking about the salvation that comes through Jesus alone, Peter declared that “…times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…” (Acts 3.20). Summer is a great time to seek those times of refreshing. Slow down, seek His presence, be refreshed. ‘Next year’ will soon be upon us with all the challenges and opportunities that life brings (Matthew 6.34), but, for now, let us all have a summer season of seeking His presence before all else, and, as Scripture tells us, being refreshed (Matthew 6.33).
Walk the Word will be back in late-August. Catch up on some of our OT podcast teachings here.
Summer is a great time to work through whole books of the Bible and deepen your knowledge of the Word: check out our more-than-1000 Bible teaching and devotional posts here.
James Travis 