Midsummer Checkup

As our “Summer Survival Pack” says, summer can pose a major challenge to our faith and obedience to Christ.  It can be extremely spiritually isolating in that we are away from the environment and people who helped us grow during the school year.    To help combat this, we recommended filling out a summer covenant which included daily and weekly goals.  Goals could include finding a home church, reading the Bible every day, staying in touch with believers from school, or something more personally suited to your own pitfalls and tendencies.  If you have not followed through with your goals, or never made them to start with, IT IS NOT TOO LATE!  One of the devil’s best tricks is implanting the phrase “I’ll get back on track WHEN…..” into our heads.  It starts with “I’ll get back on track when I move back to school.”  Then it is, “I’ll get back on track after this exam.” Etc, etc.  You can never recommit yourself too often.  You do not need to feel guilty for your failures in the past, God’s mercies are new every morning.  (Lamentations 3: 22-23)

Part of our group summer plan was to go through the “Thirsty” devotional book that we passed out in the last meeting.  If you have done 1 per week, you should be doing the “Atmosphere” study this week.  If you fell behind, DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT.  The studies are not cumulative so you can jump ahead  to get back on track. 

I think everyone can relate to a general longing for fulfillment.  Athletic or academic achievement, popularity, beauty, relationships, drugs, and alcohol etc can fulfill us for a moment, but they are addictive in that they do not last.  “Thirsty” postulates that our problem lies not in the fact that we don’t drink “water” in an attempt to fulfill ourselves, but that we drink salt water (sin) which makes us even more thirsty.  So far this summer, we have been learning that we can instead turn to living water, the Holy Spirit, for fulfillment.  We learned that the Holy Spirit is not only an equal member of the Trinity, but that He is also PERSONAL.  He can experience emotion, He can perform actions, He can convict us and teach us.    Best of all, He is PRESENT in us and we have SECURITY in Him because He is our seal of salvation.  We are EMPOWERED by the fact that the “law of the Spirit” is greater than the “law of sin” We can WALK side by side with the Holy Spirit as our guide; RELYING on Him to LEAD us rather than trying to be holy on our own and inevitably turning to salt water. 

Okay….so I stretched a little bit to fit all the topic headings in, but the point remains.  When you find yourself fighting against sin, STOP FIGHTING.  Throw in the towel.  It goes against everything we have been taught as athletes, but GIVE UP.  Surrender to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to fight for you.  You can even add in some extra artillery by calling a friend and asking them to pray for you too.  

Brandon