Day One. This is a constant theory in my life. The old saying from my youth states that today is the first day of the rest of your life. This is really good advice.
Far too often we expend a great deal of energy looking backwards to events, places and people that have caused us pain, heartache, or sorrow. We find ourselves practically living in the past when the Lord is presenting us with new opportunities, new relationships, and new projects that need our attention. There is a verse in the Bible where Jesus warns us that no one can put his hand to the plow while looking back. We have to loosen the fist that clenches tightly to the past in order to open our hands and receive the gifts that today has to offer.
While we are looking at today being day one, a new perspective has revealed itself. As believers in Jesus Christ, we strive every day to live as He lived and to love as He loved. We fail. We will fail often because we cannot live perfectly as He did. This is not a hopeless situation for the believer however. The Bible tells us that His mercies are new every morning. If we blew it yesterday, we have a heavenly father who will forgive us if we ask it of Him and turn away from those old habits and try to follow hard after Him.
Basically, the message of today's little venture upon the soapbox is to remind and encourage my brothers and sisters as well as myself. Yesterday, I blew it. Today, I repented and asked God to forgive me and give me the strength to be obedient. Once again, I took up my cross and attempted to live as my Lord would have me live. Whenever we stumble and fall, just remember that He already paid the price for our sins and shortcomings and still loves us. Today is day one of the rest of our lives and the rest of our walk with Jesus. Step by step. Onward Christian soldier!
I have to say Stanley you have got to be one of the most positive, kind, and generous people I have ever met. You have always lifted my heart no matter what the situation was. I may not be religious, but I have an enormous amount of respect for those that are and actually live by it, every day. You are one of those people and even though I don't believe in the same things that you do I believe we can certainly learn and live a lot by the teachings in the Bible. I am extremely guilty of looking, and living, in the past and I have to remind myself to look forward. I am very glad you wrote this post because I needed to hear that today. =) So thank you for just being you!
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