The onset of autumn is a reminder of the change that comes to all life. The leaves turn slowly to brown and gold and start to fall from the trees.
As I write this the sun is shining brightly but there is a sharpness about the air and the grass still shows the sign of a hoar frost left over from early morning. All about us there is a change in the air.
The reality of course is that there is constant change in life – nothing stands still or is the same from one moment to the next.
As we approach autumn we may wish to ask ourselves the question, “How do I need to change”. What areas of our life need to alter and what ways of our thinking need to be shaped more in line with the teaching of Jesus? The reality is that we need to change all the time.
As Christians we move almost imperceptibly towards God though for much of the time it may not feel or seem as though anything is happening at all. Part of the growing may well be in shedding that which does not glorify God – like a tree shedding an old leaf that has no longer any life in it.
The daily pattern of our lives ought to underpinned by prayer at the start and prayer at the end of each day; a time when we spend some little time with God going over the previous 24 hours and asking ourselves some pretty straightforward questions. So have I been thankful today for all that God has given me? Have I seen in others around me something of God’s love? Have I been forgiving or have I allowed irritation and annoyance to me less than loving? Have I been aware of the fact that being a Christian makes a difference in my life?
There are other questions that we could ask of ourselves that in autumn remind us how we have to change and deepen our faith anticipating God’s grace and new life as we move on in the seasons of our lives.