Happy Birthday, Rachel! My oldest daughter turns 40 today. That is a sobering thought. Wasn’t I just 40 years old the other day? Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not complaining about being older. If I hadn’t grown older I would not have had the joy of being “Papa” to my grandchildren!  I try to see each day God gives me here on earth as a blessing and an opportunity to live for Him.

Sure, I have my share of physical ailments that come with age. Some of them are visible and noticable, some are not. I try not to dwell on them because I trust God’s promises. He has already shown me that He can be trusted. He sent the Savior He promised immediately after the first sin. He kept that promise in Jesus, who gave Himself for the sins of the world, including mine. I have the absolute certainty of forgiveness, and that changes the way I look at every day God gives me here. Read over these promises.

2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Isaiah 46:4 Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

God renews and sustains me when I listen to His Word and reflect on all that He has done for me in my life. I know my Savior, but I also recognize God’s gracious provision. Good old Martin Luther wrote about it this way in his explanation of the First Article of the Apostle’s Creed.

I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.

That is a great reminder or God’s ongoing care for me. That has been true my entire life. And while I remember the past, I endeavor to not idealize the “good old days.”

Ecclesiastes 7:10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.

It is up to me to make today good. I do that when I remember I am a redeemed child of God and try to share that message with the people I encounter. That is our responsibility as followers of Jesus.

Psalm 71:18 Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.

God help us all to declare God’s Good News to the next generation.

Again, Happy Birthday Rachel. We will see you soon. I pray God blesses you with many more and I will enjoy every one I get to see as well.