Numbering our birthdays

 

Hebrews 10:32-39

"And many mooore!" wasn't so sure this year. There were some intense moments in the hospital after my transplant. How dangerous things were was lost on me at the time. I was just mad they wouldn't let me out of the hospital bed. There were times, though, I could see anxiousness and fear in my wife's eyes. Eventually, they did let me out and now my family and I are getting closer to our normal lives again. As the world is reopening up to me, so to speak, I've reflected a lot about my birthday. This whole experience with cancer helped make my birthday this week all the more special. Of course, so did my family, friends and so, so many of you. I haven't read any of the Facebook messages yet. I'll do that over the next couple of days. When I do, please know I'll take time to pray and thank God for each name I read. That's the same thing I've done with all the cards we've received over the last two years. Friends, you are a gift! I've long treasured the prayer of the psalmist "Teach us to number our days." I was never good at math, but I've learned that part of numbering my days means appreciating the frailty of life. Of course, faith and hope play a major role as well. Those can be frail, too. That's why Hebrews asks us to recall earlier days of faithfulness. That look back was to be a reminder of what the Hebrews community once was. Whatever persecution or suffering they had gone through threatened that faith. But the message now was to not "abandon that boldness of yours" (Hebrews 10:35). We need endurance. Some days, some seasons, we need even more endurance. Let me say I've endured these last two years with your help. For that, I am grateful. And however "many more" is for you and for me, I hope we can enjoy each day as a gift. Let us endure and hold on even through our struggles and difficulties. May God help us to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. Stay blessed...john