The fall season is a flurry of activities. Summer has turned, and the heat is gone. The cooler weather is bracing, and underneath the smiles, we feel the bitter bite of winter’s winds just on the other side of the ridge.
We grab what we can while the sun still shines.
The farther north we are, the more important it is to enjoy the remains of the harvest season while we can. The last bounty of summer’s warmth will soon be covered by a blanket of snow.
Parts of Alaska, Russia, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland fall in the Arctic Circle. Once a land mass crosses that invisible barrier, what’s north of the Circle receives no sunlight at all during the coldest months of the year.
Brr! But then, that’s the point in a hayride; the reason why so many people jump on that trailer, snuggle into the hay, and enjoy having the hayride of their lives. It’s a way to soak up a final memory of the best of the season, one that will sustain us during the darkest of winter’s nights.
That’s what our God does for us. He comes to us in our time of plenty, and afterward, when winter sweeps across the land, he sustains us during our time of darkness.
Just like our memories of our hayride.
The laughter and close companionship bond us together in a way that the world can only envy.
Let’s look at our HAYRIDE God:
H – He opens the windows of HEAVEN for us.
Malachi 3:10 tells us, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of HEAVEN for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”
When we participate in God’s celebration, he will make us part of his eternal reward.
A – He is in one ACCORD with his creation.
John 5:19 assures us of Jesus’ divinity: “So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own ACCORD, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.’ ”
We are to emulate the Savior. When we become like Christ, we become like the Father. When we join in a hayride celebration for Jesus, we jump onboard with the Father.
Y – He YIELDS a great bounty.
Proverbs 12:12 explains that if we are wicked, we go after wicked things, but the righteous will YIELD fruit after God’s own bounty.
God’s hayride is a time of rejoicing for any who follow after God. All others are asked to sit this one out.
R – He offers to let us sit at his RIGHT hand.
Mark 16:19 places Jesus firmly in the hay wagon and at our side: “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.”
We are told we will be with Jesus when we reach heaven. If he is at the right hand of the Father, we will be there, too.
I – He is IMPERISHABLE, for he will live forever.
1 Peter 1:23 reveals how God shares his IMPERISHABLE nature with us: “Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God…”
It’s really that simple. We join the hayride, and we share in the fun that never ends.
D – He DIVIDES good from evil and right from wrong.
Hebrews 4:12 gives us the glorious revelation that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the DIVISION of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
There is no doubt in God’s mind who joins the hayride for the moment, and who’s in it for the long haul. It’s about the fun, sure, but it’s also about more than the fun. It’s about living for Jesus.
E – He EQUIPS us for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:17 is the reason God gives a hayride in the first place: “That the man of God may be competent, EQUIPPED for every good work.”
When we spend time with the Father, especially time that builds us up, we will be filled with his everlasting power, and we will bring others into the kingdom.
So, let’s whoop it up!
Let’s get on that wagon and have fun in Jesus. We need the joyous memories to tide us through the darkness after the sun goes down.
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