Christ Church Magazine, October, 2011

To Autumn

Autumn it brings dazzling morning sunshine, a brilliant array of colours,
burgeoning fruit trees and the first flurry of falling leaves. What do you
associate with the autumn? Perhaps you are familiar with the memorable
line of a poem on the subject which starts: “Season of mists and mellow
fruitfulness!”. So began the poet John Keats in his famous poem ‘To
Autumn’ (written on 19th September 1819 and published the following
year).
What do we associate with the autumn season in terms of our spiritual
health? Is it a season of mists when it comes to our devotion and loyalty
to the Lord Jesus? Take a moment to consider the words brought by
Hosea to the nation of Israel that had lost its way: ‘What can I do with
you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the
morning mist, like the early dew that disappears’ (Hosea 6v4). The
people were ungrateful and unfaithful and this brought great sorrow to the
heart of God. The autumn is a time of change, and so often leads becomes
the make or break of discipleship: a change of school, college, work or
location can so often lead to a cooling of passion for Christ and a drifting
away from His people.
But it doesn’t have to be that way! Autumn can also be the season of
mellow fruitfulness – the latter part of the year can bring to fruition
things that have been developing over time. The Apostle Paul prayed for
fruitfulness amongst the people of the Christian church in Philippi, ‘And
this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in
knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what
is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with
the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory
and praise of God’ (Phil 1v9-11). Spiritual growth comes through Jesus
Christ. So it is in following Jesus that we will
develop a godly character and bring honour and
praise to God.
Why don’t you make a positive change this
autumn? Join us regularly as we aim to know Christ
better and to make him better known.
Yours in Christ,

Paul Kingman

Christ Church Magazine, October, 2011