STUDENT: HOW TO USE YOUR SUMMER
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Pastor, Christ Fellowship Bible Church
Student: here is some pastoral counsel from me to you. Let these *articles of advice* get you thinking about how you can spend your summer so you don’t waste it, but use it well for God’s glory.
5 articles of advice:
1. Rest But Stay Diligent
Whether you stay around your campus for summer work or if you travel home (or somewhere else), make it your aim to rest and enjoy summertime while at the same time diligently doing what God has called you to do — work! Aim to do all that you do for God’s glory, while at home, with friends, on the job, or traveling. So then: work, sleep, enjoy the summer but don’t fall into laziness. Have fun and engage with friends but don’t sit in front of the TV all day. Don’t binge watch movies all day. Don’t waste the precious gift of time God has given you. Be diligent. Have a plan. Be thoughtful. Have a schedule. Plan and prepare and implement. The key is to not be passive, a time-waster, and idle.
2. Read, Memorize and Learn.
Make it your daily resolve to wake up and start your day reading God’s Word and in prayer. Don’t sleep the day away and neglect God’s Word. In fact, make it your aim to memorize a favorite psalm (e.g., Psalm 32, 63, 95, 103, 145) or another portion of Scripture (e.g., Ephesians 2; Philippians 3; James 1, etc). Further: pick a good book and read it carefully, thoughtfully and engagingly during the summer to sharpen your theological understanding. You might want to read Kevin DeYoung: “Just Do Something” or Mark Dever: “9 Marks of a Healthy Church” or Paul Tripp: “Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands” or Paul Washer: “The Gospel’s Power and Message”.
3. Re-gather, Serve & Linger Long with Saints.
This Sunday, like this week, make it your goal to attend worship with the saints. In fact, I encourage you to not go only to the late service (and please don’t show up late to that!), but get there early, ask how you can serve, hand out bulletins, greet folks, help set up chairs, do sound, sit close and take notes! And, I challenge you, make it your aim to find a godly, older couple in your local church and spend time with them. Ask if you can treat them to a cup of coffee (after church or another time that’s most convenient). Or ask if you can come to their home and bring a meal to get to know them. Attend. Serve. Give. Employ your gifts. Learn from and linger with saints who have walked the journey and who are still walking closely with Jesus.
4. Fight for Purity. Slay the Beginnings of Temptation. Enjoy Christ.
Kill sexual sin! You will be tempted. Count on it. Get a battle plan. Have a fighter verse (Psalm 119:9, 105; Job 31:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8; Psalm 16:11) to help you so you can run there in a moment of temptation (on the screen, in person, at the gym, or wherever). Remember that sin is always full of lies and sin is always bad. Always. Sin makes promises but never delivers. Sin, like a rose, may look and smell enticing but you grab it with your hands and the thorns prick you. If you need guidance in this, read Proverbs 5-7 often (even daily!) and remember that Christ is infinitely greater, better, purer, sweeter, and more satisfying than any promise immorality could ever make! Choke sexual sin. Starve it. Don’t feed it. Run to Scripture, to Christ, to Truth, to the Gospel!
5. Engage in Some Evangelistic Outing With Other Believers.
I bet someone from your church would love to join you for an evangelism outing this summer. Grab some New Testaments, or some gospel tracts, and your Bible and go to a busy plaza where people gather. Or, go out on the 4th of July to a downtown gathering where lots of people will congregate. Go to a local Memorial Day parade. Offer people gospel tracts. Do so with a smile. Ask people if they have the assurance of eternal life when they die — and be ready and prepared to engage them in gospel conversation and proclaim God’s gospel to them. Watch and see how going out and “fishing for souls” will enliven and invigorate your heart and the hearts of other believers who go out with you. If you’re not sure where to go, or who to do it with, reach out to your pastor and he would love to help you.
Eccl. 12:1, 13-14 — Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no delight in them” ... The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.