By now pretty much everyone should be out of school for summer break, except perhaps those in year-round or summer schools. No doubt all of our schedules have changed at least somewhat, making room for vacations, day trips, summer jobs, and just plain hanging out. Most of us are “sleeping in” longer in the morning and staying up later at night whenever possible. Studying has resigned itself to the back of our minds and thoughts for the next several weeks. Even our eating habits are likely different than they were during the school-year, since meal times are a little more flexible now that breakfast doesn’t have to be eaten before school and lunch isn’t set between two classes. Yeah, I’d say that our schedules have at least taken on a new form for the summer…
Summer is meant to be a time of fun and relaxation…a break from the regular routine. But please don’t put aside your time with God this summer. I know that things can get busy and it’s easy to forget about reading your Bible and spending time in prayer, but it’s really important that you make an extra effort to maintain your relationship with God. And if you didn't have a great relationship with Him during the school-year, now is the time to build one that will last! Use this summer as a turning point and really get into God’s Word and seek His face. Draw closer to Christ and get on fire for God now like never before! Your relationship with God is worth it!
Here’s some reminders/idea for maintaining and improving your relationship with God this summer…
***Read Your Bible Everyday… Choose a book of the Bible to begin with and then get a notebook and write down key verses and points as you go along. This will help you to study God’s Word and get something out of it rather than just read it. Pray and ask God to reveal the meaning of the scriptures to you…He will if you ask Him too!
***Pray…Pray…Pray… My suggestion is that you begin your day with prayer as soon as you wake up…even if you just have enough time to talk to God for a few seconds. From my own experience, when you start your day with prayer, things usually run more smoothly than when you don’t. Share your thoughts with God and talk to Him about your dreams and goals. Tell Him about your worries and concerns, your doubts and fears. Then, pray for others as well. I’m sure you can think of a few people who need God’s touch in their lives…maybe they’re ill, maybe they are going through something that is tough, or maybe they don’t know the Lord as their Savior. Whatever they need prayer for, God knows the situation and He knows the answer to their problems, so talk to Him about it!
***Spend Time in Worship… The Bible says to sing your praises to God and glorify His name. This is a very important step in maintaining and improving your relationship with the Lord. Maybe you have a worship CD or tape that you can play and sing along with, or if not you can sing some of the songs that you sing in church or youth group. Or sing a song that you’ve made up…it really doesn’t matter, as long as you are magnifying and lifting up the name of Jesus. He deserves your worship on a daily basis!
***Get Involved… Get involved in serving God in some type of ministry! There are several ways in which you can do this…joining the praise and worship team at church, getting involved in dramas/skits or doing puppets, helping with outreaches, or even handing out tracks…just to name a few ideas. Summer is the perfect time of the year to get involved in ministry. And you don’t have to do something as “on-the-front-lines” as the areas I mentioned above. There are plenty of more subtle or “behind-the-scenes” ways of serving God. But I definitely recommend that you join some area of ministry if you aren’t already part of one!
Well, these are just a few suggestions to help you improve your walk with God this summer. Stay on fire for Him if you are already doing these things, and have a wonderful summer!!
-HK
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