The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.

(Jeremiah 8: 20)

How does this sound to you? Depressing? Perhaps sad?  Hopeless, because another season is gone and we did not achieve what we hoped?

Someone once said that time is a great teacher.  While this is true, time is also a cruel teacher. Eventually, it kills us all.

At the end of summer, don’t get depressed, get busy. Do not allow what you did not do cause you to give up and stay idle. Do something positive and remember that the way to boost your attitude is to produce fruit.

What are you saying?

Let me tell you a story. Many years ago in a church I was pastor of we had a lady who was always down and depressed. It was not uncommon for her to ring me and ask for a visit and some prayer. It would usually go like this. I would arrive and she would still be in her dressing gown and the house still a mess, dishes in the sink and children’s breakfast remnants still on the table. I would spend a little time and pray, she would perk up and I would go.  Not this morning. I said she should have a shower, clean up, do the house work and wash the dishes and I would be back in two hours.

I returned to find a lady perky and in reasonable good humour. Why? She had produced fruit. She had done as I asked; she was neat, had done her make up, cleaned the house and was pleased to offer me a cup of coffee. According to Jesus in John 15:1-17 the need for fruit is important, the reason for fruit is JOY. (v11) The opposite of sadness is joy. Just small things, achieved against the odds can have a dramatic impact on our mood.

Fruit takes time, and yes we have time, but you can do the things which are important and urgent so that you can produce some fruit quickly and enjoy the sense of achievement that it brings. Don’t let time become your enemy by procrastinating and draining your life and energy. Don’t waste time on regrets and recriminations.  Let’s do what needs doing, stay calm and carry on.

Just to finish, cleaning the house is not a cure all, but it helps for the here and now.

Rev. Keith Rudman