There’s something about the end of summer. For starters, it now comes sooner… or so it seems. Remember when summer didn’t end or school begin until Labor Day? Whenever summer ends, fall reflections can’t be far off. Was it a good summer? What I hoped for? Did I waste the sunshine and long days?
What Could Have Been
All of that makes a familiar quote more intriguing.
“The summer has ended, and we are not saved.” (1)
You’ve likely heard or read that, but saved from what? Ourselves… what summer was not… what’s to come? Any, all, but at least some of that one line will apply on several levels of life. The expanded reference is, “harvest is past, summer is ended…” so maybe lazy or unproductive farm work will leave us hungry. Though not tillers of the soil, we get that. Messed around all summer… and now it’s over. Focused on me… now it’s back to school or the office (no more remote work).
What Should Have Been
An even broader read though gives some more context. The ancient people the prophet wrote about really did their own thing, and not much of it was about what they would send home on a scroll to mom. More than just a season or even sustenance, their spiritual harvest was going to be a zero. Now time was up. And it wasn’t God’s fault.
What Still Can Be
We could make a case for all manner of earthly urgency and diligence when working against seasonal time… get it done now, finish the job. But that likely is a disservice to the reality of the quote.
“The summer has ended, and we are not saved.”
Instead of allegory or avoidance, embrace the spiritual. Consider priorities. Do business with God. After all, the same author that lamented the end of summer, wrote there are “great and mighty things”.. (2) for those who don’t waste the seasons of life.
- 1. Jeremiah 8:20
- 2. Jeremiah 33:3
