On Being Renewed
New Year’s Eve, 2008
I just celebrated my birthday this week and it suddenly feels unbelievable that I even made it to this age.
I’m 54, the age that my parents died.
I used to think that this was old, but it sure as heck doesn’t feel old when you get there yourself. Seriously, life is short.
I suppose we have two choices. We can either think, man, I’m getting old and go out drinking or get depressed because so little time is left.
Or, we can look at a birthday as a day of new beginnings. We get to draw a line in the sand and start afresh! It is time to turn the page and start a new chapter of life.
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
2 Corinthians 4:16 (New International Version)
16-18So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.
2 Corinthians 4:16 (The Message)
I think it’s essential that we be mindful of the brevity of our lives in a healthy, spiritually-aware kind of way. Perhaps too many people go through life in a haze and come to the end of it without ever having given it one deep thought. Now that’s pitiful.
James says that we are like a vapor that is here one minute and gone the next and no one knows what’s going to happen tomorrow. (4:13-17)
The Psalmist asked God, give me a heart of wisdom to number his days aright. How fleeting is my life and yet we have God’s protection as a mighty eagle hovering over us with his wings while we rest in the shadow of the Almighty. (Psalm 39:4-7, 90:12, 89:47 and 91:1-16)
Consider the lyrics to Who Am I by Casting Crowns…
Who am i? That the lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.
Who am i?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wondering heart.
Not because of who i am.
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what i've done.
But because of who you are.
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow.
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when i'm calling,
Lord you catch me when i'm falling,
And you told me who i am.
I am yours.
I am yours.
Who am i?
That the eyes that see our sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again
Who am i?
That the voice that calmed the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me.
Not because of who i am.
But because what of youve done.
Not because of what i've done.
But because of who you are.
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow.
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when i'm calling,
Lord you catch me when i'm falling,
And you told me who i am.
I am yours.
I am yours.
I just celebrated my birthday this week and it suddenly feels unbelievable that I even made it to this age.I’m 54, the age that my parents died.
I used to think that this was old, but it sure as heck doesn’t feel old when you get there yourself. Seriously, life is short.
I suppose we have two choices. We can either think, man, I’m getting old and go out drinking or get depressed because so little time is left.
Or, we can look at a birthday as a day of new beginnings. We get to draw a line in the sand and start afresh! It is time to turn the page and start a new chapter of life.
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
2 Corinthians 4:16 (New International Version)
16-18So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.
2 Corinthians 4:16 (The Message)
I think it’s essential that we be mindful of the brevity of our lives in a healthy, spiritually-aware kind of way. Perhaps too many people go through life in a haze and come to the end of it without ever having given it one deep thought. Now that’s pitiful.
James says that we are like a vapor that is here one minute and gone the next and no one knows what’s going to happen tomorrow. (4:13-17)
The Psalmist asked God, give me a heart of wisdom to number his days aright. How fleeting is my life and yet we have God’s protection as a mighty eagle hovering over us with his wings while we rest in the shadow of the Almighty. (Psalm 39:4-7, 90:12, 89:47 and 91:1-16)Consider the lyrics to Who Am I by Casting Crowns…
Who am i? That the lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.
Who am i?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wondering heart.
Not because of who i am.
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what i've done.
But because of who you are.
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow.
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when i'm calling,
Lord you catch me when i'm falling,
And you told me who i am.
I am yours.
I am yours.
Who am i?
That the eyes that see our sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again
Who am i?
That the voice that calmed the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me.
Not because of who i am.
But because what of youve done.
Not because of what i've done.
But because of who you are.
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow.
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when i'm calling,
Lord you catch me when i'm falling,
And you told me who i am.
I am yours.
I am yours.
Knowing God gives life new meaning that’s for sure.
Dear Lord, thank you for renewing us as the eagle.
posted by Karen Low Deloge at 8:49 PM
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