On Sept. 1 our family went swimming at Higgins Lake’s North State Park. It’s claim to fame is that it has been called the 6th most beautiful lake in the world. It is something to see and experience. You can walk 75 yards or more out into the lake and it’s still waist deep and you can see your feet through the crystal clear water. We think it’s the most beautiful lake in the world but then we’re a bit biased because we live here (and we haven’t seen the top five).
When we swam on the first of the month we were the only ones in the water. We were the only people at the beach and I think the only family in the park. No, we didn’t scare them off and it wasn’t the water temperature or the weather. It was a beautiful day. The water was only a little chilly at first. Even though we were the visitors to the beach that afternoon the water was quite comfortable.
The reason for the lack of visitors to the park was that it was Labor Day and around here that’s the last big tourist weekend of summer and being a Monday most everyone had already headed home for work on Tuesday.
In northern Michigan a lot can change in thirty days. The leaves haven’t come down yet but the snow has. On Sept. 30th the weather turned to sleet and snow. There wasn’t much but it was enough to make us chuckle to ourselves that we had been swimming at the lake on the 1st and it snowed here on the 30th. Two days later we woke up to two inches of the fluffy white stuff. (I’ve got snapshots to prove it.)
It’s also amazing to me how much people can change in a short period of time. Our one year old, Josiah started walking a few weeks ago and is now quite mobile. Motivated and disciplined individuals can safely shed several pounds in just a few weeks. I could grow a beard in just a weak or two, but no one wants that.
The most exciting changes of all are when God gets a hold of a person’s life and proves his miraculous power in changing them for the better, for His honor.
What’s sad though is when God’s children refuse to change. Deflecting a nudge from the Holy Spirit can be habit forming. God’s child can become so hardened in his ways that changing improper actions and attitudes and growing the fruit of the spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23) becomes nearly impossible. What we need in our lives to prevent a heart that won’t yield is the attitude we find in the Psalms and Isaiah.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23, 24
But now, O LORD, Thou art our Father, We are the clay, and Thou our potter; And all of us are the work of Thy hand. Isaiah 64:8
Change is good.
Have a great week!
Kevin