Brand New Day

I can't remember what the brand was (Total®?) that had the jingle when I was growing up that sung "Today is the first day of the rest of your life.". Perhaps that has been around for a long time, or someone really significant coined it, but I recall it from a commercial.

My wife and I had been attending a class centered around Soul Health. This was an interesting class which was facilitated (see 10/18 post) by an older fellow. This guy had a sweet spirit, and a grace about him—white hair, and a twinkle in his eye (think santa, not as fat, no beard, in a yellow sweater and khaki's). Certainly he'd done some tough, strong, "man stuff" through some wartime experience, but this guy now was something warm and gentle. He commented one morning "Though our bodies are decaying, our inner man is renewed everyday." You could sense that there was a genuineness to him saying this. You could also sense a childlike joy emitting from this older guy.

Now I have had many Monday morning diet, New Year's smoke quits, I'll start working out tomorrows, I'll pray mores, I'll do whatevers, to understand the decay piece as well as the desire to be renewed. My problem is that I tend to take renewal into my own hands.

C.S. Lewis tweeted (well, not C.S. doing the tweeting, but someone on his behalf) that "I am sure God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for them to wait". Now God must be saddened as we try to "do life" on our own without him. But I also imagine that, at times, He may have slight fatherly smile on his face, watching his children struggle, thinking "they'll see". This patience on God's part is a component in our learning and renewing process. And He'll let us struggle and fail on our own.*

We need to remember that our days become renewed when we stop our own self-management and Seek Ye First (Matt6:33), and allow the Lord to Restore our Souls (Psalm 23). I just wish I did more of this as I all to often keep my own hands tightly gripped on life's reigns.



*Certainly, in this world, struggle and failure won't cease as we rely on God, but there will be peace and joy amidst the struggle and our end game is assured.