01.19;21—Hope Lives!- Leviticus 26: 40-45
My friend, may I ask you a question? Funny what had once been a symbol of hope is but a symbol of how time, the environment and our own changing lives are ever-working to change the things we had hoped in into things we had once hoped for?
My friend, life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day.
I’m M. Clifford Brunner
I've always seen old junkyards as more than just a place of rust and salvage. When I walk a junkyard I am always struck by the fact that old cars and trucks have a story to tell. For example, there's an old Plymouth station wagon resting in a local salvage yard I visited recently. Despite its sagging roof and toothless grill; I speculated that perhaps there was a time back in 1953 when it was new and a young couple with a couple of kids had taken her for a test drive. With over- drive transmission, dual spotlights, a high-fidelity radio, and a sturdy luggage rack, it had a lot to offer. Perhaps they envisioned trips out west to see the Grand Canyon or a leisurely drive to see Grandma and Grandpa up at the lake. Even though they had a mortgage to pay and on $75.00-a-week life was difficult, that little Plymouth station wagon would give them something they really needed--hope that the future would be somehow bigger, brighter and better.
Now, over fifty years later, what had once been a symbol of hope is but a symbol of how time, the environment and our own changing lives are ever-working to change the things we had hoped in into things we had once hoped for. That little Plymouth station wagon was but a testimony to a time of hope and dreams that had moved on to something better, newer, more stylish and useful. Perhaps they had made it to the Grand Canyon and perhaps not. The dreams that had been cast upon it that sunny afternoon so long ago had proved but temporary and fleeting. It wasn’t long before a dead battery or flat tire or frozen radiator had brought the owners back down to earth. That seems to be the way of hope in this life any way. With the things of this life we tend to plant our hopes, resting them securely almost abandoning them to chance. Then, as time grinds away at them, we loose our grip and eventually let them slip away altogether.
Here's a story: A man sentenced to death obtained a reprieve by assuring the king he would teach his majesty's horse to fly within the year–on the condition that if he didn't succeed, he would be put to death at the end of the year. “Within a year,” the man explained later, “the king may die, or I may die, or the horse may die. Furthermore, in a year, who knows? Maybe the horse will learn to fly.” (Bernard M. Baruch) Isn’t hope in this life often like this? We tend to rest our hope in things that are doomed to fail yet we are comfortable with the time we have in the mean time. Even though that reprieve has its limits we would rather not think about it just now. God has a different plan for hope in our lives. His hope is something that grows stronger and more secure day by day. And this hope will never end up in a junkyard. It’s a hope built on a promise that He will always “remember” His promises. There are no rusty promises in heaven.
We pray. Heavenly Father, isn’t hope in this life often like this? Lord, we tend to rest our hope in things that are doomed to fail yet we are comfortable with the time we have in the mean time. Forgive us when we waste the valuable time You have given us to accomplish our tasks here on earth. Even though that reprieve has its limits we would rather not think about it just now. God has a different plan for hope in our lives. His hope is something that grows stronger and more secure day by day. And this hope will never end up in a junkyard. It’s a hope built on a promise that He will always “remember” His promises. There are no rusty promises in heaven. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen!
Therefore my friend, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself; each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:34) This Passing Day. May this passing day honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be a blessing to you and everyone you meet. Find a stranger and say hello. Don't let another day pass without your day blessing someone else.
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<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.