The last of 50 blogs about people who have impacted my life as I turn age 50
November 2, 2011
Well Lord, I made it. This far. 50 years. Lamentations 3:22 – “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
I have spent the last 49 days remembering 49 individuals whom God has blessed me with during my first 50 years. There were 13 women, 34 men and two dogs. As I mentioned in the first blog, there were many more people I could add to that list. God has been so good to me. And so today, I want to give Him the glory.
I was eight years old when I started my personal walk with Jesus Christ. Before that time, although I had attended church for all of those first 8 years, I did not really know Him as my Friend. I knew about Him. I knew He had come to earth and died for sinners. I knew He was coming back someday and I was afraid of being left behind. But I realized when I was eight years old that although these things were all true, I didn’t know HIM.
Ephesians 2:4-9…”But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions…8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”
So one night at the Boys Brigade group I attended, I accepted Jesus Christ and asked Him to be the Lord of my life. I repented of the wrong things I had done. I turned the future direction of my life over to Him. I believed in His promise that He would give me His Spirit to dwell within Me, and that He would never leave me.
Throughout the years, I don’t know what I would have done without Him. His Word taught me how to live. When things have been difficult He has given me peace, a peace that the world cannot give. I can remember key points in these 50 years – asking my wife to marry me – accepting a job offer – buying a home – experiencing health crises – when prayer and trust in His will carried me through.
Certainly in these years I have stumbled and strayed. I have doubted. I have disobeyed. I have discovered the truth of Galatians 6:7-8 – “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
I have also learned that happiness isn’t so much related to your circumstances, but to the state of your soul and the closeness of your walk with Christ. I learned from the Gospel of John 15:9 that Jesus said “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” So when I am downcast, I only have to remember that He loves me more than I can measure, and I can be content whatever the situation.
The other thing that keeps me going is an understanding of God’s grace. While my salvation is based solely upon it, it also carries me through each day. 1 Peter 5:10 – “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”
I thank God for His goodness to me for 50 years. I don’t know what is ahead, or how many days or years I have left. But I know He is there, and that is enough. My prayer to Him on this day is that He will help me to live out the rest of my life in the spirit of Ephesians 5:15-16 ”Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (NASB).
So take me as You find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again.From “Mighty to Save” by Hillsong
