Good Monday morning! And a happy Early May Bank holiday to you! What? Did you expect something else today? Hee, hee! Yes! I am 48 years old today! Whoo hoo! I made it another year on this earth! Jesus isn't finished with me yet and I have more days of loving him and doing the good work of Christ! At just after 0500 in the morning, the temp is a balmy 30°, May 2nd and we are still freezing. After all of that, you might be thinking something like, "this guy is full of barnyard waste!" I'll admit that looking forward to each new birthday after 40 might seem a bit odd, but when a person comes to the realization that all of us are only here for as long as God would have us to stay, then you appreciate each new year of life. Did that work for you? Nope, didn't for me either. After 35 or thereabouts, I was just like most everyone else, ready to mope about being on the downhill slide toward old age. Then Jesus changed my life for the better!
No, that change didn't go easily at first. I missed the old life of general good health, being in charge of my destiny, or at least thinking that I had it all under control, and being pretty much responsible to no one. The lost sheep wasn't sounding off because, well, he firmly ignored the fact that he was lost. Jesus knew better, but the lost sheep wasn't listening at the time. I have heard several of your own personal stories of salvation, and I know that each of us can remember a similar time in our lives when we lived only for "Me" and thoughts of serving the Lord came only as an irritation. I realize now that my control over my own life was a complete illusion. Jesus was knocking, but I was inside with the TV turned way up, in a manner of speaking. Praise God that Jesus made sure I didn't stay that way!
A new life in Christ will make a person realize how precious our time here is, and how short. Each day I am one day closer to being with Jesus forever in a place where the pain and suffering is banished. Getting older is a blessing... that doesn't always feel like a blessing. Another example of a time when we must look to our Savior and not to our feelings. Praise the Lord for another year of writing devotionals and living in Christ!
When you get older you get suggestions like: "Amazon recommends Kirby vacuum cleaner belts..." That message just popped up on my screen, a sure sign that I am not a spring chicken to continue the farm metaphors. Vacuum cleaner belts? What a suggestion for my birthday. The problem is that once a person gets past a certain age, you actually check to make sure that you don't need something mundane like that. Come to think of it, I had better go to the grocery store today.
Have a wonderful day in Christ, even if you don't feel the blessing in our poor old body today!
Bucky
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