Fall Back and Spring Forward

Five-Minute Friday – SEASON

When I hear the word “season” it brings to mind many different things that all have something in common. Of course, it is easy to think of the four seasons that make up our environment in Wisconsin. I don’t have a favorite. I find something to like in each one.

It is also easy for some to think about sports. There is the baseball season and the football season. Some think about investing. There is an “earnings season” when investors are eagerly waiting for or dreading what might be announced in a company’s earnings for the past three months. There are also times of seasonal strength and weakness. “The S&P 500 Composite Index has an historic period of seasonal strength from the end of October to the beginning of May. The strategy is known as the Buy when it snows, sell when it goes.” Equity Clock

Tonight we officially start a season I don’t like. We will turn back our clocks in a vain attempt to add light. We are just adjusting to the reduction in the hours the sun is shining. The clocks, we believe, fall back. It is a silly exercise. I really won’t gain an hour. The clock is ticking all the time.

What Do All Have in Common?

The common thread for all seasons is most of them have a beginning and an ending. Each season has a defined beginning and a known end. Choices are made based on the beginning and ending dates. There is one season, however, where you can know the beginning but may be uncertain of the end. Most people know their date of birth. Every time I have a medical appointment, to confirm they have the right “Wayne Winquist,” they ask me for my date of birth. That date is my season of life beginning.

But they never ask me for my date of death. It is, to date, unknown. I am, however, a fading flower or withering grass. I am like the vapor from a pot on the stove. Here are some ways the Bible describe my life (and your life):

“The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.” Isaiah 40:7

“…yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” James 4:14

It Doesn’t Have To Be Seasonal

Yesterday just before I started pulling the many zinnia plants that looked wonderful for several months, an ambulance and fire truck came to a neighbor’s home. The reminder was real. Life is short and our neighbor is nearing the end of the season of life “under the sun.”

One of our flower gardens overflowing with zinnias.
The end of the season for zinnias.

But it doesn’t have to end. There is hope beyond the seasons. The end is not the end. Oh, it is certain that my life will end. But my life and your life also won’t end. I know my life won’t end because I have a Savior who conquered death and promised life. Here is just one example of the promises I believe:

“Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.’” John 11:23-27

Note that Martha talks about the “last day.” The last day is actually the first day of a season that never ends. It is an everlasting season. It is a season that Jesus promised multiple times.

This sheds light on the following proverbs from Solomon. He said, “In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway, there is no death.” Proverbs 12:28 Proverbs also says, “The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.” Proverbs 22:4

But there is another dreadful season coming for those who reject the gospel. This is the season that will never end. It promises eternal death. Don’t ignore that season. You will ignore it to your unending peril. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

How to Identify a Follower of Jesus

A disciple has a reminder about a “due season,” and they work according to that season. “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

Five Minute Friday

This post is part of the weekly Five-Minute Friday link-up.

All scripture passages are from the English Standard Version except as otherwise noted.