Blog: Max Dawson
October 17, 2016
My childhood autumns in Indiana hold fond memories: Fall festival at school, pumpkins, and Thanksgiving–and every September the new model cars were introduced! The hot and humid Indiana summer was over; there was a pleasant feeling about the fall of the year and a hopeful anticipation of what was to come.
Autumn in Southeast Texas is not so dramatic. While we have a change of seasons, we typically don’t have the early frost that turns the leaves to red, orange and gold. But it is still a pleasant time as we anticipate good things ahead–not only Thanksgiving, but the other holidays, as well.
As we grow older, the autumn of our lives is much like that. The autumn of our years is a peculiar mixture of nostalgia, blessings, and anticipation.
The word “autumn” appears but once in the word of God as it speaks of false teachers who are like “autumn trees without fruit” (). The implication is that trees should bear fruit in the autumn. These teachers bear no good fruit.
The fall is the most fruitful season of the year. Much of the food we eat is harvested in the fall. The autumn of our lives, should also be a time of fruit bearing. It could potentially be the most fruitful period of our lives–the best and fullest. It is not a time for retirement from God’s service. There can be the temptation to think that we are of little value. We surmise that we are “old and in the way,” or that we are merely tolerated but have little to offer. There is a better way to look at life.
THE FINAL WORD
For those of us who have reached the autumn of our years, we must keep in mind the unchanging nature of God. Seasons of life come and go, but our God is always the same. Read .
“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”
The unchanging God is always the same–from everlasting to everlasting.
There is a lot of unwelcome change in our world. Moral and societal changes bother us. Our grand kids are growing up in a world far different from the one we knew. That change makes us uncomfortable. It isn’t just moral change that distresses us. Personal changes can also be difficult. We watch our kids (and grand kids) leave home; we wonder where the years went! We witness the passing of dear friends, and our lives are changed by each passing. We watch the decline in our own vitality and health. We wonder about our own future. We see something completely unexpected. Others begin to see us as “old people.” But amid all the change, one thing, one person, never changes–our eternal God.
“I am the Lord. I change not” ().
Do you recall the verse from “Abide with Me”?
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day; Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away; Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
God doesn’t change. His existence, nature, and character are always constant. His truth, ways, and purposes do not change. His Son is the same ().
God’s children look to a day when they will enjoy His fellowship forever. Seasons change; winter comes; this old world fades, but the God who has been our constant help is with us forever. He gives us permanence, stability, joy and peace unspeakable, and life everlasting. Until that final day, we continue to serve Him. *
May God be with you, my dear friends,
–Max