"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant." ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life here on this second Friday of the brand new year, January 10, 2014. Best I could discover, that 'first day' quote may have been coined by a 1960's group devoted to drug rehabilitation. One fellow commented that it is a universal truth for every day except one, that would be your last day. I suppose on that day it could be updated to say, 'welcome to the last day of the rest of your life'. I know you are so very pleased that I cleared all of this up. I appreciate you appreciating me for appreciating the need to provide this important information. You know. Like the song. "I was looking back to see If you were looking back to see If I was looking back to see If you were looking back at me." That 1954 song was written and sung by Jim Ed Brown and his sister Maxine, who, later, along with their younger sister, Bonnie, became known as The Browns. It is a good song, by the way. You can call it up on YouTube along with several of their other big hits. We have an older fellow in our Church who grew up living in the same little town with The Browns in Arkansas. He actually dated one of the girls when he was in high school. Is it a small world, or what? No. This is not national useless trivia day. I would never want to limit my sharing of stuff to just one day a year!

They have something on Facebook called throwback Thursday. This is where people put up images of themselves or others from their past. This is an interesting feature that shows how folks have changed. Looking around the world we live in often makes me feel like I'm mostly living a throwback life so to speak. I'm not talking about the proverbial Mayberry good old days mentality. I'm thinking more about the way in which our world functions today. We are fast becoming a very coarse society where life unfolds in an almost profane way. I'm also not talking about them, you know, those out there, somewhere. I'm thinking about me, myself, and I, and all of us that name the name of Jesus and how that we are in many respects playing the game by the world's rules. I suppose in one way it seems that we are surrounded by brokenness, inside, outside, and all around. Yet, the reality of our life in Christ informs us that we are called to live differently, even in a dark world. The Apostle Paul spoke some about this in his letter to the local fellowship of believers meeting in Colossae, (Epistle to the Colossians). The Amplified Bible reports Chapter 2, Verse 8 in this way: "See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human tradition (men’s ideas of the material rather than the spiritual world), just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe and disregarding [the teachings of] Christ (the Messiah)." No one said it would be easy folks but may God help us to be a light that does brighten the corner where we are. Amen.

Yeah. I know. That's tilted a little towards the 'heavy' stuff for a Friday, but, it is something I have been, continue to be, and no doubt will do more of in the future, and that is to find myself wrestling with these types of issues. The old man still at war with the new man, if you get my drift. (Romans Chapter 6) But, we are not without hope, because we are also told that victory can be achieved because, "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (1st John 4:4) That's a truth we all need as we continue the journey God has appointed us to travel. I do hope you've had a productive week. They say that last Monday, being the designated official back-to-work and end-of-the-holiday, is the saddest or most depressing day of the year. That's supposedly because of the jolt back to reality where all the holiday bills must be dealt with, and the daily grind must be once again pursued. I didn't know about it so I suppose I'm thankful I didn't feel down and out on that designated saddest day. Who said being ignorant doesn't have some benefit? Just joking. Now is the time for us all to wrap up today, enjoy our Saturday, and honor our great God by meeting with other believers on Sunday. That's not such a bad prescription. If you ask me. Take care and may God bless each one. Amen.      ....More later.