Pastor Dave's Corner-August 2011
By Pastor Dave Banfield | August 1, 2011
Times of Refreshment
Summer is an interesting time of the year. Something happens to our spirits during the summer. Although, for the most part, our schedules remain the same, our attitude is very different. We enjoy the benefit of long evenings and warm temperatures. It is during the summer that we intentionally take time to refresh our souls. We plan times away from the routine. We spend more time outside and less time huddled in our houses. Summer is a time to fill our tank to face the challenges of the coming fall and winter months.
Recreation and refreshment are part of God’s plan for us. He wants us to be both whole and holy. He designed for us to have a weekly time of refreshment; a Sabbath rest. He also plans seasons of refreshment for us. We don’t have to be in a certain place to experience God’s refreshment. We are not limited to a particular time of the year. We can tap into God’s refreshment anytime. Let me give a few suggestions for making the end of this summer a time of spiritual renewal as well as physical renewal.
Take some extra time to study a book of the Bible. Choose one of the Gospels or one of Paul’s letters and spend this month digging in. Read it several times. Get a commentary or two and read what others have to say about it. Write your own commentary. But above all let God speak to your soul through His word.
Read for fun. I know that for some of you reading and fun are rarely in the same sentence. For those of you who like to read, I want to encourage you to be intentional about it. As you read ask God to speak into your life. God has spoken powerfully to me through many books, both secular and sacred. I have been surprised again and again when I have been reading for fun and God has tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out something He wanted me to learn.
If you are not a reader, watch movies with purpose. Invite God to speak to you through the characters, circumstances and situations. Movies give us a window into our world. The more we understand our world the better we will be prepared to engage our world for Christ.
Take long walks in fun places. Take your time. Don’t be in a hurry. Explore the many parks in and around Mankato. Walk with your eyes and ears open. Explore the amazing world that God has created. Pick up a guide to trees, or flowers, or birds and then go on a treasure hunt. There is a wealth of refreshment tucked away in the natural world around us.
Try something new. Be creative. Is there something you have always wanted to try out? Do it! Take a class, start a craft project, visit a historical site, break away from the routine of life. And while you are doing that give yourself permission to slow down. Don’t see these experiences as something to be checked off a list. Make them experiences to savor.
Share what you are doing with others. Plan picnics, cook-outs, or just coffee times. Reach out to someone else and share your life with them. Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
God wants to refresh your soul. He has designed many ways to accomplish that purpose. We get the fun of choosing. So before the summer is over jump into the refreshment that God has prepared for you.
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NIV)
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