It’s the last weekend of July. On Monday, we’ll flip the calendar to August, and everyone will begin the painstaking transition back to real life. I know it’s hard; sweltering temps notwithstanding, summer is my favorite time of year because everything slows down a bit and I love spending more time with my kids.
But as our vacations wind down and our back-to-school shopping ramps up, it’s time to get our minds and hearts ready for the return of The Grind. Here are three things you can do between now and the end of summer to prepare yourself for the busier season ahead.
1. Fall Back in Love with Scripture
Last week, I ran into a friend who’s had a pretty rough life. He’s served a few stints in prison, and his body and face are covered in tattoos and scars. He noticed that I was studying the Bible and when he saw me reading Daniel, he said to me, “You know, Pastor Eric, the book of Daniel once kept me from killing a man.”
He had my attention, so I listened intently as he told me the story of being in prison a few years ago when a fight broke out. He got tangled up with the keyholder of the Crips prison gang and was about to “split him open with a shiv,” but then he saw a lion tattoo on the man’s arm. “That lion made me remember the story about Daniel in the lion’s den, and how, even though the lions could have killed Daniel, God kept him safe. And I knew right then that, if I let this man live, God would keep me safe.” Then tears came to his eyes and he said, “And He has, Pastor Eric.”
One thing was clear in that moment: my friend really loves the Word of God the way that all of us should. Sometimes it seems like the longer you’re a Christian, the easier it can be to take the Bible for granted. Somehow, in the trenches of everyday life, we forget that we have a collection of sixty-six God-inspired books dating back as far as 3,000 years ago, and that its Truth claims have stood the test of time. No book on earth has saved half as many lives as the Bible has, and no book as ever enjoyed the Bible’s shelf-life. The Bible is as on-point today as it was when it was first written down! How amazing is that!?
Starting this weekend, through the month of August, I’m inviting you to join me in setting aside at least ten minutes per day to read the Bible. If you’re not sure where to begin, or which part of the Bible to read, I highly recommend the Gospel of John. It’s beautifully written and easy to understand, and if you’re familiar with the Apostle John, you know that he’s a fast read (that’s a John joke! See John 20:4).
2. Find Someone to Follow and Someone to Lead
A few Sundays ago, mere moments after I closed out the last service of the day, a very faithful and enthusiastic Story member approached me and said, “I need a mentor. I need someone to follow.” My first reaction was to say, “You’ve got him already; his name is Jesus.” But I knew exactly what she meant.
Christian mentorship is essential to deep discipleship. The Bible leaves no doubt about this. Paul mentored young Timothy, and then instructed him to mentor other men in his congregation who could also one day be mentors to others:
What you have heard from me…entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. – 2 Timothy 2:2
Male mentorship is so important, and it’s sorely lacking in our culture right now. I once preached a sermon about so-called toxic masculinity in which I said something like:
All you ever hear about young men these days is that young men are too aggressive, too violent, too lazy, too anti-social, and too hyper-sexual. I’m telling you that’s a lie straight from the Devil’s mouth. Young men are not any of those things. All they are is uninitiated. No man has shown them how to live as men. They have yet to be adopted by an order or men who will claim them and show them how to be men who chase the heart of God. This is supposed to be where the Church comes in.
Female mentorship is vital as well, of course. In his brief New Testament letter, Titus encouraged older women to mentor younger ones:
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior…
They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women… – Titus 2:3-4
They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women… – Titus 2:3-4
Every believer who is really growing has another believer they really look up to. Is there someone in your life – a believer who is wiser and/or more seasoned than you – who you can look up to? Have you told them yet how much you respect them and that you basically want to be them when you grow up? If not, why not? This is the perfect time of year to set up a meeting or two with someone who can help lead you toward a deeper faith in Jesus Christ.
The other side of that coin, of course, is that no matter how “far along” you feel in your Christian faith, God can use you to lead someone else toward faith in Him as well. In addition to asking yourself, “Who am I following during this season?” you should also be asking, “Who am I leading?”
If you don’t know where to begin or who to approach, ask a Christian friend and/or a trusted leader at your church for their advice!
3. Absolutely Nothing
It may seem like I’m letting you off easy here by telling you to do nothing, but in my experience, nothing is the hardest thing in the world to do. When God handed down the Ten Commandments, He saw fit to include a law that basically commanded us to do nothing right alongside laws about not killing people and not sleeping with someone else’s wife. The only way to make sense of this is to understand that God saw our proclivity for non-stop production and stimulation, and He knew it needed regulating.
To do nothing does not mean to sit on your couch in your underwear watching Paramount Plus, and it doesn’t just mean “not working.” Doing nothing means spending an uncomfortable amount of time focusing on nothing but God. It’s the lost art of reflection that once gave rise to the Psalms.
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. – Psalm 1:1-4
Doing nothing is the rejection of everything shiny, loud, distracting, entertaining, pressing, and even urgent. It’s self-control, enacted.
Before the summer ends, make time for nothing. Be unproductive and bored. Don’t let anything get in the way of your nothing time with Jesus. Grab a notebook, and write down the feelings and insights that come to you. It won’t be easy, but trust me, you’ll be more prepared for the season ahead after spending some time doing nothing.
