| Pastor's
Pen
by Buzz Dahlen So, what do you have to be thankful for? An appropriate question, considering the time of year, don’t you think? What are you thankful for? I am sure that we can all sit down and make out a list of things, if given the challenge and some time. My list, off the top of my head, my family, my friends, my health… That list just doesn’t seem to cover it... I think, in order to make a complete list of what we are thankful for, we need to stop and consider, not “what” we are thankful for but, “why.” This past week, I was asked how I was doing, my response was, “I’ve had better days but you don’t have the time to listen to the why.” Then she shared with me how a relative of hers, had just been told that he had six to nine weeks to live… All of a sudden, I was having a pretty good day. Why am I thankful? I am thankful because, even when I am having a “bad” day, I can be reminded that it is not, all that bad. I am thankful because, while I am having a bad day, there is a very good chance that things will improve. I am thankful because I have a confidence in my eternal tomorrow and that makes me, no matter how bad it looks, thankful for today. Sure, I would like things to be different today, but today is just what it is, today. There’s no changing it. This is where I ended up, today. Today is really all I have and so I might as well make the most of it. And, because I can make the most of it, I am thankful for it. Too many people waste today worrying about tomorrow. Tomorrow might never come. So many things could change in a blink of the eye, and the tomorrow that we were worried about might not even happen. I am thankful because today still has potential, there are still a few hours left in which to experience improvement. Eventually, sometime today I will fall a sleep and this day will end. What am I thankful for? Well, I am thankful for the day that I had to love my wife a little more; to love my children, too and I had today to do my best to let them know. Come to think about it, I am thankful to have this day to think about my wife and children. What a blessing to, have been allowed to love them today. It’s more then I deserve. God knows I have wasted so many of my past today’s, I don’t want to waste this one. I don’t know if I have six to nine weeks to live. I don’t know if I have six to nine days to live. I do know that I have today and when I lay my head on the pillow tonight and begin to fall a sleep, I promise you I will say, “Dear God, thank you for today.” Why would anyone say thank you for a bad today? If you get the opportunity, ask a dying man what he asks for at the end of the day. I’d bet anything that his answer would be, “just one more day.” Well my friends, I have, today, what that man asked for last night… I think tonight, I am going to add a little something to my prayer. I think I am going to say, “Dear God, thank you for today, could I have just one more, please?” That makes me stop and think; What if that was your prayer and what if God’s response was, “What did you do with the last day I gave you?” I know I am rambling a bit. It’s been an interesting day and I still have a few hours left to take advantage of. I hope writing this Pastor’s Pen was a good use of the time. I hope that if God asks me, what did you do with the last day I gave you, I will look forward to sharing all that I did with it. I hope that He will see fit to give me one more. Jesus said: Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:27-33 & 34 Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Oh, and please pray for that man with 6-9 weeks to live and his family. God knows their names. |
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