We are coming up on the time in Louisiana that can rightly be described as the lazy days of summer. When I was growing up, I can recall not wanting to run around as much at this time of year as we usually did. It was just too hot. Even to us kids it felt better to find a spot under a tree where a cool breeze was blowing. Our neighbor had a well on the back of his property that would overflow during the summer because of the rain we had had during the spring.
I can remember that well having the coldest, clearest water flowing up from a deep aquifer. However, the very best part of my memory is of one of the families in the neighborhood having some home-grown watermelons. A tub with the watermelons was placed to catch the overflowing cold water from the well. Take one guess where all the kids in the neighborhood would be gathered! I can still picture us congregating around this endeavor, rather impatiently waiting for the melons to get just cold enough for us to feast on them. It seemed that if we watched them they would get cold faster.
I can imagine that this feeling was what the scriptures were meaning to convey when in the book of Genesis it speaks of God resting after the sixth day of creation. Some may ask why God would need to rest since He is God and you would think He would never get tired. Maybe He wasn’t tired though. Maybe He just thought that rest was a good thing to do even if you aren’t tired. Maybe He wanted us to know that something important is happening inside us when we aren’t doing much on the outside of us. So resting can be a good thing even though we feel like we are accomplishing nothing …especially on a hot July day in Louisiana. Anyone else for watermelon?
“Those who enter into God’s rest, cease from their labors as God did from His.”
– Hebrews 4:10
Love,
Andrew+