Seasons

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There are many seasons throughout the year. In the South we have four; long summers, short winters, football, and off season. As of yesterday, it’s football season! Probably the most wonderful time of the year! It’s funny, but we spend 365 and 1/4 days (leap year) out of the year talking, thinking, and dreaming about football. We wear our team’s colors and logos. We visit museums and stadiums. We also have much of our homes covered in our team’s paraphernalia. We are fanatics! And there are hundreds of thousands just like us who all assemble and millions who watch around the country as this great season takes place on Saturdays between September and February. Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s football season! Ok, truthfully there are other seasons that happen throughout the year like Spring and Fall. But those don’t really matter to us. We also have the holiday season, but really it’s just football season. What really bothers us is the ‘offseason’. We spend most of the year waiting for our favorite time to come back.

The athletes we watch on tv also experience these things. In-season they spend time practicing and playing so they can win national championships (something the south is really good at, esp. the state of Alabama. In the offseason they spend some time practicing, but mostly physically and mentally training for the next season or healing from the previous season. Either way we all have to go through the in-season and offseason cycle. Luckily we do have something to keep us on our toes year round. You see, Paul describes to Timothy that there is an in-season and offseason dealing with spiritual matters in the world. He says “…preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruct.” 2 Tim. 4:2.  Go there and read that passage in its context. What you will find is that we as Christians have a goal to get as many people to heaven as we can. Our responsibility is to ‘revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…’ 1 Pet 3:15. Christians must be hard working in-season and out of season. There is not a season for preaching then one for taking a break. There’s no point system or ranking system. There’s no Rose Bowl or Tostitos Bowl. All there will be is an account of our lives. There’s no overtime to attempt one last field goal. What we have, we have now and God wants us to use it. What’s your score looking like? Are you in-season or out of season? It doesn’t matter; God is calling His play now. It’s time to execute.