A couple of months ago, a good friend of mine challenged me to read Psalm 103:2-5, paying particular attention to verse 2, where it says, "and forget not ALL his benefits."
For me, anytime I see the word ALL, I pay particularly close attention to the context in which it is being used. Especially when used in Biblical text. "ALL" allows for no exclusions or exceptions. It is whole. It is full. It encompasses the entire extent of subject it references. ALL is an extreme word.
Often, when you look for a new job, the benefits that come with it are just as important as the salary you receive: Paid Time Off, Health Insurance, Tuition Reimbursement, Matching Contributions to your 401K, Corporate Discounts, Housing Allowance, Company Car, Uniform Allowance. The list goes on.
As I thought about this, I thought about the ALL of the "benefits" I have as a Christ-follower. Some are mentioned in this passage of scripture: Christ forgives of ALL of my sins, He heals ALL my diseases, He redeems my life from the pit of Hell, He surrounds me with love and compassion, He fills my life with good things.
Here are some others:
- Grace - forgiveness, a past that's paid, a better-than-I-deserve-life
- Good health - instant access to the Great Physician
- The Holy Spirit - a whole extra dimension of God's power
- Eternal Life - call it "Long Term Care" or "Free Life Insurance"
- Love that never fails
- The joy of the Lord
- A wonderful spouse
- An amazing family and extended family
- A great job
- A voice to praise
- Rest
- Peace that passes all understanding
- Compassion for those less fortunate than I
- Provision
What are some of the "benefits" you have? Let's not forget them!
I know it may seem weird, but I really like walking through cemeteries and looking at headstones. In doing that, I often wonder, what did this person live for? What defined them? What made them famous? What were they passionate about? What were they afraid of? What mistakes did they make? Did a mistake lead to their being here?! What regrets did they have? What lives did they touch? What kind of legacy did they leave? Who attended their funeral? Whose tears have fallen on this grave?
All of the answers to those questions are summarized in a tiny mark between their date of birth and their expiration date; a hyphen - a dash.
You get to choose how to spend your dash. Your time is limited. Pope Paul VI once said, "Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it, I say! Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows." What are you doing with your dash? Are you living the dash, or dashing to live?
What would you do differently in your life today, if you suddenly found out you had One Month to Live? Would you take the opportunity to say, feel and do what you really want? What big things would you want to do? What small changes would you want to make in your daily schedule? Is there anyone you'd want to "make things right with"? What risks would you take? What keeps you from living that way now? Why can't we all live like we are dying?
Psalm 90:12 (TLB) says it best: "Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should."
Here are a couple of points from Saturday afternoon’s message titled “Extraordinary Leader” taken from 1 Timothy 4:1-16. You can listen to the podcast for this message here!
- Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example.
- Be an example in Speech, Life, Love, Faith, and Purity.
Here are a couple of points from Saturday morning’s message titled “Extraordinary Love” taken from Mark 2:1-5:
- Extraordinary Love makes a difference in others lives.
- Extraordinary Love can make this year the best year of your life.
Hey! Just wanted to let you all know we made it to Kearney and had a wonderful first service at Fall Convention with Rod Whitlock, former Nebraska District Youth Director (DYD); now our National Student Discipleship Director.
Here are a couple of points from tonight’s message titled “An Extraordinary Life Without Masks” taken from Genesis 29:14-35. You can listen to the podcast for this message here!
- Some of us have some many masks for our lives that we don’t even know who we are anymore.
- We need to remove our masks and be who God wants us to be.
Parent: \’per-ənt\ noun – One that brings forth offspring; a person who brings up, rears, trains or raises a child.
Since moving into our apartment several months ago, we’ve had birds build nests on top of the shudders of our windows. It’s no big deal. In fact, it’s kinda cool to lay in bed on a Saturday morning and just watch the mom and dad fly in and out, taking care of the birds in the nest. As it is, I can’t help but see the similarities between parents, baby birds and the nest to parents, teenagers, and home.
First, the order the eggs are laid in, is the order in which they hatch. Ergo, older children and younger children. Both parents care for their young, which also works best for parents of children. Females show more care for the young after birth. Males provide food at first. (OK, so that doesn’t really fly (pun intended) with nursing moms, but, whatever.) Parents control the allocation of food, changing positions if necessary to ensure all offspring have an equal chance of survival.
The parents are probably a bit stressed as the chicks near independence and leaving the nest as they aren't as easy to protect as they were in the nest. They know that leaving the nest too early can be hazardous to the birds’ health. It may be seriously injured as it falls from the nest, not ready to or knowing how to fly on its own yet. It also becomes easy prey for predators, defenseless as it stumbles around on its own for the first time. Being away from the nest also makes it more difficult for its parents to feed it and protect it from danger.
Even still, baby birds often fly out of the nest before they can fly back to it. The father takes a couple of weeks to teach the babies how to survive, which may contribute elevated stress levels for the mother. But, the father will look after the babies until they become more independent.
Can you relate to any of this? I know that for me, it was fairly easy to “leave the nest.” For others, I know it’s more difficult. When kids first leave the “nest”, they are more susceptible to doing stupid things. But, if they have been “trained up in the way they should go, even when they are old, they will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
To parents who still have children living in your “nest”, these are critical years in developing your children. What can you do today to shape their tomorrow? What can you teach them now that they can apply when it comes time to leaving the nest? What can you do to better equip them for adulthood?
If you can become your child’s hero now, they will become your best friend as an adult. Let me challenge you with this question: Are you your child’s parent, or are you just the biggest person living in your home?
