New Year’s Day kind of reminds me of salvation. The previous year is already in the books and nothing can be done to change the past, but today is a brand new day and we get to write whatever story we want with a clean slate in the upcoming new year that begins unfolding today.
I was telling my grandson yesterday that deer hunting has become much easier for me these days. I’ve hunted them for so many years now and through the decades have made every conceivable blunder in my pursuit of them. But I’ve learned from my mistakes and finding big bucks these days is easier; indeed I’ve even begun to “think” like a grizzled up old buck now, and thus taking a magnificent trophy now and then is becoming commonplace. The same is true about finding and catching trophy largemouth bass. I caught a very nice largemouth bass yesterday with little effort or giving it a second thought.
I spent considerable time with my grandson teaching him various things that I’ve learned through the years about deer hunting and rigging up and fishing for bass. I gave special emphasis to those mistakes that I’ve made that led to abject failure and cost me a rare chance at bagging a monster buck or hooking up a lunker bass. He listened intently and as luck would have it bagged a nice whitetail and caught several fish himself during his visit to Honey Lake.
I find the same sort of thing going on in my spiritual life. I’ve made more mistakes throughout my wild and reckless life than most; however I’ve learned from those experiences and have made excellent progress towards improving my walk with God. This is not to say that I’m where I desire, (or need), to be; no, sadly I’m far from it and I don’t know about you, but I made plenty of mistakes last year. I regret them all but trust I can improve my performance this upcoming year starting today.
I want to think like Jesus, and act like Jesus, in order to be like Jesus.
It is far more important to teach my grandson (and others) what I’ve learned about trying to follow and live like Christ than it is to teach someone how to hunt and fish. Many of you could teach others a wealth of information of how to navigate through the snares and pitfalls of this life too if only you would.
Many people quote the Bible stating that a white head is a “crown of splendor”. They usually quote the first part of this verse in Proverbs and leave out a little two letter word, “IF”, and it’s qualifier statement. “The gray head is a crown of splendor, IF it be found in the way of righteousness.”
I read the following somewhere: “Does your wisdom make your gray hair a complement, an insult, or a crown? If you have wisdom to match your gray hair, then they complement each other. If you have more gray hair than wisdom, your hair is visible evidence you are a fool. If you have more wisdom than gray hair, your white hair is a crown of glory, for it declares a godly life lived well.”
Hmmm . . . My goal is snow white hair.
Happy New Years from old griz!
Titus 2:2
Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have strong faith and be filled with love and patience. Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that is appropriate for someone serving the Lord. They must not go around speaking evil of others and must not be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good. These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children,
January 1, 2015 – Click here to listen