DEVOTIONAL: Is it time for your ‘summer reset’?
Rev. Tim Coker. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
By Tim Coker, Pastor
Central Baptist Church, Darlington
“But this one thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.” — Philippians 3:13b I’ll never forget my grandma’s old straw broom. It didn’t look like the brooms we have today. She used it for everything … to sweep the porch … to chase away mice … and occasionally to chase away us kids! Mostly, I remember her using it in the yard. Those were different days. Granny didn’t “mow the lawn.” She sort of cleaned the dirt, and she used her broom. It was a kind of “brush for dirt.” Do you know what else I remember? I remember how clean the dirt looked after it had been swept. I know, it was still dirt, but it had been cleaned. I have just returned from my summer trip to the beach. It was a typical week. Like most typical family vacations, there was plenty of “fun in the sun”… accompanied by some isolated “crying in the rain.” As always, there was plenty of FOOD! All types of eating and all types of food. Fast food … seafood … junk food … fat food … food. Beef … chicken … shrimp … crab cakes … doughnuts … candy … food. Carbs … starches … cholesterol … fats … sugars … FOOD! It was a typical vacation. The week was/is more than just a vacation for me. It marks the end of my personal year, where I pull out my own personal “brush for the dirt” and sweep the yard clean. I realize that most fiscal years don’t run from July to June, and that the calendar year is different, also. Shoot, Lifeway (we used to call it the Sunday School Board) uses different times to mark their year, but July has always worked for me. What works for you? Do you have a time like that? Do you have an old-fashioned brush broom in your life? Is it time for you to look back over the past and sweep the dirt clean … and look forward to the coming year? I look back and see many mistakes I have made. I remember the prayers I have not offered … the writing I didn’t do … the leadership I did not provide … and the friends I didn’t touch. I have missed opportunities with my family, and have failed on many occasions. … I am tempted to see only the bad! God has done some great things in my life this past year! He has opened His word to me in new ways. He has answered my prayers, and He has stretched me in new directions. Mostly, He has reminded me of His unfailing love. He has taken His “brush broom” – we call it the cross – and used it to sweep away my mistakes. Am I still a work in progress? Do I still show signs of dirt every once in a while? Are there still consequences for my poor choices? Absolutely! BUT I AM STILL CLEAN … AND (to quote Scarlett O’Hara) TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY! How about you? Are you ready to begin another year? Ready for new opportunities? Ready for some unfailing Love? Ready for summer cleaning? A summer reset? Well, then, get ready … it’s time to “sweep the yard”! God’s best to you this summer!
