This Week – September 21, 2003

Fall! Again!

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. I especially llove the woods when the leaves are turning and falling and the air is brisk. Wildlife seems to be more abundant and there is an anticipation of building a fire and relaxing around it, watching the flames, hearing the crackle and feeling the warmth. Man, I llove that.

Kids are back in school, vacations are mostly over, dark is coming ever earlier, and there’s lots of time to sit around the table after supper and find out what is going on in each other’s life.

Some folks find more time for Church in the Fall. I certainly can get excited about that. We’re often introducing new programs and activities, taking more time to be together, and looking forward to two of the best Christian holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I really want us to build a fire this Fall. I want us to see the flames, hear the crackle of activity, and enjoy the warmth. The fire is symbolic, of course (just in case anyone from the NRHFD is reading this). It is that flame of llove for God, that time of turning from distractions, and finding in Him a warmth that ignites the very best that is within us. It is fire that consumes all the ugliness, sinfulness, wasted times of our lives and propels us toward a path of good works (see Ephesians 2:10).

The easiest thing in the world is to do nothing. We become the proverbial “couch potato” and never go for that walk in the woods. We seldom become observant enough to really see all the beauty around us. We don’t usually stop to build a fire and glean from it all the ingredients that make that few moments of life worthwhile.

This year, don’t take that well-worn path, but take “the road less traveled.” Get involved in building some fires, or at least enjoying those others have built. Let the fire of God’s presence and power make of you a vessel fit for service and capable of ministering to others.

If you get the opportunity, go for a walk in the woods. It might stir something inside you that will spark a new enthusiasm for the things of God.

© Weaver, 2003