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Dec 17, 2022 06:00am

Seasons of Love

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I have always enjoyed living in a part of the world where I experience each of the four seasons. Since I’m from Missouri, sometimes I experience them all in a matter of hours.

Several years ago, I asked the teenagers in my Sunday School class to name their favorite season. Not surprisingly, they all had different answers and reasons their favorite was the best.

Though some of them made convincing arguments, my position did not change: fall has been, and always will remain, my favorite season.

Fall

There are many things I treasure about that time of year; perhaps the greatest treasure is the majesty of the trees. As far as the eye can see are breathtaking orange, yellow, and red hues. Each tree is beautiful and intricate, serving to provide its own unique form of beauty.

The thing that saddens me most about this season is when death slowly overtakes each tree. Suddenly, the leaves people are “oohing and ahhing” over last week are the same leaves that end up in a crunchy brown mess the next.

Though a pile of leaves may provide some temporary satisfaction, it doesn’t take long before frustration builds as the leaves are tracked into other parts of our lives.

As I sit and reflect on the fall season, I am reminded of sin. At first, sin is pleasing to the eye and evokes emotions that give a sense of temporary satisfaction. However, in the end, sin leads to one thing: death.

Dating back to Adam and Eve, the cost of sin was death. When these two engaged in disobeying God by seeking to be like him, sin entered the world thus death entered the world. For the first time, God and man experienced separation and distance in their once perfect relationship.

Just like Adam and Eve, we are quick to forget, when basking in the temporary benefits our sin can offer, that the cost of our sin is death. This death is then easily tracked into our journey towards becoming like Christ, relationships, mental health, etc.

Romans 6:23 assures us that though the wages of sin is death, “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior nearly ten years ago. However, sometimes I allow my sin to keep me from the abundant life God has for me here on earth.

One quote I recently read about the Fall season says, “the trees show us how lovely it is to let things go.”

Worldly thinking tells us to apply these words selfishly by simply eliminating the people and things that no longer “benefit us.” However, the Christian knows the most lovely thing we can do is let go of our sin. Through confessing sin in our own lives, God will then restore our relationship with Him and with others.

Winter

One of my former professors once said she viewed a fresh snowfall as God reminding His people of His renewed mercies and covering of their sin. Just as snow covers the outdoors, His love covers a multitude of sins. I am thankful every time I’ve made a sin-mess in my life, God has been faithful to cover me.

I’ve learned that His covering requires something of me. The truth is I am unable to make a complete comparison between myself and a Fall tree. The tree has no choice but to die; I do. I always have the choice between dying to my sin or not.

I’ve learned that in order to receive his covering, I must: humble myself, submit to God, flee from Satan, and draw near to God so He may purify and cleanse me back into a right relationship with him.

Winter is not for the faint of heart, neither is a season of pruning for the Christian.

Spring

Spring is the season when things are blooming again! It’s amazing to me, that after a season of pruning and repentance, God never fails to make life bloom within and around me again. His faithfulness is often overwhelming!

Summer

Finally, we come to summer, a time where everything is brighter and people feel lighter! Just as the sunshine continues, from Spring into Summer, to be a lifesource for the earth, so does the Son continue to give life to the Christian as they follow and submit to Him.

As I reflect on the yearly cycle of the seasons, I am reminded of God’s faithful love. Just as physical seasons come each year, God is faithful to continually draw me to seasons of death and pruning so I may experience the abundant life He has to offer on earth.

Sometimes I fear the amount of pruning He has yet to do in me and the time it will take to do so. However, as a friend of mine says, “when it comes to coffee, fresh brewed is always better than instant.”

I suppose God will continue to brew me until I reach eternity. But, oh what a day that will be when I am with Him perfectly forever; no sickness, no tears, no sin, and no death. A forever summer!