A Day of Praise

I really do not think much about the number of my years except, maybe some, as my birthday approaches which is in a few days.  When I was young I never thought much about living 77 years which is the number I am counting this time.  Some discount the importance of the numbering.  The Bible makes a big deal about the number of years folks lived.  It is also full of numbers that have some meaning beyond just being a number, but I mention this only to say numbers have something to say to us.  Seven were the days of Creation and, thus, seven speaks of completion for many of us.  

Wow!  So, here I am at double sevens.  If I were a number freak and a gambling man which I am not, I might be thinking this year is going to be my lucky year.  Of course, life is not about luck, or chance, or coincidence.  If I have learned anything about life in these seventy plus years, it is this one truth.  Life is not about chance, but about grace.  It is not about what might happen, but what is unfolding through the unseen plan of God.  Life is so big and grand we fortunately cannot see it all at one glance. More of it will always be unseen than can be seen.  It began with the shining of the eternal Light which gave life to my soul and when this life as I know it ends that same eternal Light will still be giving life to my soul as it is transformed into a life being prepared by Jesus in the unseen eternal realm.  

As I consider this birthday I am more convinced than ever in my life that Jesus is who He says He is.  I know that any positive marks that might be attributed to me in this life are really because of His kind and gracious use of the strength of my years.  More than ever I am grateful to Him for coming, and dying, and rising, and living again.  What is true for me is true for all of us.  What we have seen of His invisible nature and what we know about eternity is but a drop in the bucket as we consider what is still before us  because of His unconditional love, His unending mercy, and His incredible grace.  Praise be to the name of Jesus!  Praise Him.  Praise Jesus!