We are entering a season that I love! It’s fall, and with that comes scents, colors, a crispness in the air, football, and foods that contain pumpkins, apples, and cinnamon. While fall marks the beginning of death for plants, with leaves changing color just before they die and drop to the ground, it also brings a newness of life as we step out and breathe the fresh, crisp air. It is a time of year that makes me feel alive. So you may ask, what does this have to do with a Christian devotional? For me, it represents a time to regroup and get busy for the Lord.
Fall is a season of transformation. In Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, Solomon reminds us that there is a time for everything. This is a time to slow down and reflect, a time to enjoy the blessings of God and be grateful. A time when we evaluate our lives to see what areas we have grown in and how we can use those for His glory.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.”
When I open my door early on a fall morning, I’m reminded of Romans 6:4, where Paul says this transformation brings newness of life. Sometimes life is like the summers in Alabama. It is hot and sticky with all the activities and pressures of life. Sometimes in life, things press in on you. They cling to your mind like the humid, thick air that seems to never fade as the heat increases.
Romans 6:4 “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Fall is a season to reap the benefits of crops from the seeds planted in the Spring. When I think of sowing and reaping, my mind immediately goes to those I have witnessed to about Jesus. I know that all we can do is sow the seeds of salvation. It is up to them to receive it, and God to reap the harvest. Often in the Bible, the action of sowing and reaping is used. It is something people in biblical times could relate to because they grew what they ate. This principle teaches us that whatever we sow, we will reap the consequences. In Galatians 6:7-9, Paul teaches us not to allow ourselves to be deceived. God put this principle in place from the beginning. Adam and Eve sinned, and we are still living with the consequences.
Galatians 6:7-9 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
I love all that fall reminds me of, the freshness in the air, the coolness of temperatures, the reaping of the harvest, the changing of colors, and on and on I could go. But what about you? Have you sown precious seeds of the Word of God? Are you living daily in the Word so that you enjoy the freshness of each day? Are you paying attention to the different people that God has allowed to cross your path? Just like the colors of fall, they are all different, but they all need Jesus. Step up, and if you have not sown seeds to reap godly results, it is time to do so before the deadness of winter begins.
