365 Free Passes
Happy New year everyone!
For the first post of the year I asked my good friend Concord Pastor to guest post for me. You can read his very excellent blog here: ConcordPastor.
How do you measure?
Image: ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk
There are many ways to measure the worth, the value of a day in my life. I can measure it in terms of a day’s pay or how much work I can get done in 24 hours, whether or not I’m paid for it. I can measure a day’s worth by how much rest I was able to find, how much I enjoyed the day or by how slowly the minutes ticked by on an unhappy day. I can measure a day by how many people I met along the way or by the hours of loneliness I spent by myself. I’m sure you have your own ways of measuring the worth, the value of a day in your life.
Well, another 365 days are about to be dumped in your lap and in mine. How will we measure them? How will be value them. Most important of all: how will we spend them?
How many days in the New Year ahead will I use wisely? How many days will follow the wisdom of my having planned them rather than stumbling through them without a goal in sight? How many days will I waste by slow starts, attention to distractions, foolish use of time or sleeping too late or too much? To how many days will I give my all? And to how many days will I hold back what I have to give?
Will I treasure each day as a new beginning or will I let some days slip by me while lost in thoughts of yesterday? Will I offer at least part of each day to others? Will I look for ways to share my days with those around me, with those in need, with those who need a share of my time? Will I find time each day to laugh, especially on the days when tears seem to take all my time? Will I take each day as it comes, living one day at a time, walking with God as my companion, trusting God to guide me by day and guard me by night? Will I, every seven days, take some time to praise the God who gives me all my days and to rest at least a little, taking a deep Sabbath breath, stopping to enjoy the world of days in which I live?
Days become weeks and weeks become months and before long, another year is past. It might be a good exercise for January 1 to think of the New Year as a book of 365 “free passes” to days well lived and well loved. Few things are as precious and freely given as a new day – and God offers us 365 new ones every year.
This and every day is a day the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad in every one of them – all 365!
-ConcordPastor
Image: blogs.phillyburbs.com
