As all our Churches have had their harvest Celebrations, my mind goes to the verse from Jeremiah ch 8 v 20. ‘The harvest is past, the summer has ended and we are not saved’

The book of Jeremiah was written to the people of Judah who had been faithless to God and gone their own way: running after pagan gods and practising the most vile acts in worship of these demon gods. They had known of God, known His Law, had the priests and prophets, kept the festivals of the year which spoke of the goodness of God to them and their ancestors. Yet, with so many blessings and with so much knowledge, they had willingly and wilfully turned their back as a nation on their God.

This wasn’t some nation that God had not revealed Himself to, this was His chosen people, the family through whom all the nations of the world would be blessed, that was promised to Abraham, then continuing on through David and His sons.

The story feels so familiar. We as a country have so much Christian history behind us. We sent missionaries out all over the world, we built our laws, government, education system, hospitals and society upon Christian principles, but as a nation we have turned our backs on God. ‘The harvest is past, the summer has ended and we are not saved’ means that as a country both Judah back in Jeremiah’s day and our country in the present have lost every good opportunity given to us by God and are now entirely without hope unless we repent and return to our Creator God.

We see decline in all good things, we see a rise in anxiety, suicides, marriage breakdown, cruelty, violence and selfishness. We see truth denied and wrong praised.

What should our response as Christians following Jesus be to this dismal outlook?

We should remain faithful to Jesus, keep following Him, keep believing His word, the Bible. Now is not a time for giving up but following ever closer and we must pray.

There is only one answer to the worlds needs and that is Jesus. However dark the time we live in becomes, we need to remember that Jesus is even now in heaven at the Father’s right hand and all authority has been given to Him. Many Christians across the world right now are facing hostility, persecution and death, but this is only what Jesus told us would happen. It does not mean that God will not or cannot help us. We know the future, we can read the last chapter, we know the Lamb wins.

So, as we look out at our world and our country we must not despair. Jeremiah spoke of restoration and hope because of The Loving God who had promised that, and today those same promises are still real, trustworthy and strong. Let us, who love our God, still worship Him together, read the Bible, come to Church and pray knowing that He is in complete control.