Just a week ago my wife and I ventured to the great state of Georgia, the city of Woodstock to be exact for the Way of the Master Deeper conference. Along the way down we stopped off in Chattanooga Tennessee and drove to the top of Lookout Mountain. What a beautiful sight it was, looking out over the valley from that high of a perspective, the leaves of the trees below changing and bursting in a huge variety of colors. Green, brown, orange, red and yellow all laid out before me by God so I could see His glory, the beauty of His creation and I stood in awe and my eyes teared up as I thanked the Lord for all He does for me and all He allows me to partake in.
Looking out over the valley did spark a thought in my head that continues to play through my head. A verse actually:
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
The changing of the seasons laid out before me in all of the colorful splendor. God has set forth the changing of the season’s into 4 very distinct times of the year, at least here in Kentucky they are distinct. The fall or autumn is vibrant in colors as the leaves change in splashes of colors, which is also the harvesting season. What it actually is is the death of vegetation, but needed for the growth of the plants, it is also marked by a drop in temperatures and shorter daylight hours.
Next on the season clock will be another drop in temperatures along with the chance of freezing precipitation. This was my favorite season as a child because of the increased chance that I might not have to go to school because of snow. Winter also has Christmas, which as a child meant presents, presents and more presents. The winter season is also a dormant time of year that plants are not visibly growing, or showing the signs of growth.
Spring slides in around March/ April with temps getting a little higher and the birds singing as leaves spring forth (no pun intended) and flower buds are starting to get noticed. This season, like fall, is full of eye candy. Many vibrant colors emerge, the greens of the leaves, bright yellows, reds and blues of the flowers. The birds that flutter around singing praises to the Lord also are full of colors, the red of the Cardinals and the blues of the Jays and even the brown shades of the finches are equally as pretty to the eyes.
Spring gives way to the scorching summer months as the thunderstorms pop up and move through. The warm weather allows for us to get outside to play and interact with Gods creation. The magnificence of creation… how can anyone doubt that God created it? For us, He created it and gave us dominion and look at what we have done to it.
With the 4 changing seasons there are certain laws that are known as farmers prepare their fields, cultivate, sow their crops and then reap the harvest. These are the laws that God put into place for the changing of the seasons and man can’t do anything to circumvent those changes. A person may be able to deny a season has changed, pollution may play a part in affects on the changes but denial and global warming do not change the laws of the seasons. Over my lifetime I have seen winter snows of 8+ inches on a regular basis dwindle off to an occasional 2 inch dusting or even winters that would allow for shorts to be worn. But the seasons still change and the laws of nature that God set forth are still in effect.
Back to 2 Timothy 4:2, there are only 2 seasons listed – IN season and OUT of season to preach the Word of God. So there are only 2 seasons to preach the Word, when the soil is ready and when the soil is not ready. In other words, always be telling someone about God. We all need to be in a constant state of telling others about the Lord and His promises in the Bible to us. Actually it should be abnormal if we are not proclaiming His Word.
I am just as guilty as anyone for not doing this. I must continually ask God to put words into my mouth as He did Moses and Jeremiah. I have always been a quiet person and it is a struggle for me to talk to anyone, but I must say that God does empower me at times. He is really doing a work in me and opening my mouth more and more as I share what He has done for me and the truths that He has revealed to me. This has to be the Lord, because I am not capable of doing this.
I implore you, Christian, to do what the Lord commanded us to do and take His Word to everyone. Start with your family, move onto your neighbors, your friends and then to those you come into contact with. Find some biblically sound Gospel Tracts (links to the left of my blog) and hand them out, leave them with tips and give them to coworkers. Tracts are a great way to start a conversation and swing those conversations to what is most important, eternity. Make sure that you are biblical and fully explain Gods biblical plan of salvation, His complete Gospel and not the 4 spiritual laws or Romans Road. These are not complete Gospels and are actually quite dangerous.
I pray that God will move you to open your mouth and speak. How will someone know until they hear? Romans 10:17 lays this out. Now go out and tell someone of everything that God has done for you and for what the Word says for salvation.
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