July 14, 2013
Galatians 6:9 – And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
They call these days “The Dog Days of Summer”. The days from early July to mid-August, the days when energy-draining heat and humidity sap the enthusiasm for life. I get hot and tired and lazy some of these days. These are the days when fights start and friends fall out. These are the days when every journey can seem uphill in both directions, and reading another good book, or writing another message in the on-line ministry system, can seem like a little more trouble than it’s worth. Of course the dog day climate here in Florida is not the same as the dog day climate in the Mediterranean, where the term was coined in Biblical times, but somehow the effect is the same! Satan loves the summer heat and humidity, when the weight of the very clouds can press down and make heads ache.
These are the days to remember how easy we have it. I went back and looked at I Kings 17-18 and reminded myself of those days when Elijah felt like he was fighting a one-man battle against worship of the baalim. It didn’t rain for three years. And I looked at Numbers 33 — all those stops and starts the Israelites made as they wandered in the wilderness of willfulness.
Our verse today speaks of not slackening the will (being weary) nor slackening the efforts (fainting). It says, “don’t let’s give into the evil while doing the good”. But it says more than that … it also says that in God’s good time we will reap the rewards of our efforts if we stay strong. Paul has been talking about doing the things that God has called us to — not the things that seem like a good idea to us. It’s a challenge, isn’t it, to stay focused when it’s so easy to slack off, slow down and relax when the temperature and humidity both head into the 90’s? At least it is if you’re a softy, like me. But then I get to thinking …
Jesus and the disciples did their work … traveling from place to place. The land is hard. I read a description from about 100 years ago, of the road from Jericho to Jerusalem, imagining Jesus’s entry:
“The long, hard day’s climb up from the plain of Jericho was ended. The morning blessing of blind Bartimæus, rejoicing in his sight, was already a thing of the past. The way stretched behind, bare and barren, over red-clay paths, with scanty grass, dry and sear, and bright spring flowers intermingled.”
Imagine walking around the barren land (not all barren, of course, there were refreshing places) but imagine. Imagine walking from place to place and at the end of the journey to spread the word of the kingdom in the face of unrelenting hostility.
The apostles had it, if anything, even harder. How many times were they harried from place to place. How many times were they stoned, and beaten, without growing weary. Imagine how they have reaped. It’s a harvest beyond our dreams.
So if like me you sometimes feel beaten down by the dog days, stand a little taller. Walk a little faster. Sow a little broader. Then wait for God’s due season …