The First ...

This picture I took with my laptop's web cam. I was at TBI in the library working on my Doctoral Thesis. I will be spending a lot of time in that very spot over the next three years.

There can only be one first day. Of the first day of a school year there can only be one. Of the first day on a new job there can only be one. Of the first day of creation there can only be one. But of the first day of the rest of your life there can be many. Every day is the first day when it comes to the rest of your life. What a wonderful thought that is to me. It does not matter what the past may have been today starts a fresh new day and how I spend this the first day of the rest of my life will be up to me and the Lord of my life. It is early in the morning as I write this blog and I am so full of optimism that the rest of my life, of which this is the first day, is going to be lived for God and for others and not wasted on selfish things.

I will be preaching at the nursing home this morning. I worked on a new sermon for them last night and am anxious to share it with them. Each sermon I preach is the first sermon of all the sermons I will preach for the rest of my life.

Tomorrow night we will be going down to visit with Faith M.B.C. of Hewitt. It will be good to have Bible study with them and we always enjoy singing the old songs out of the Heavenly Highway Hymnal. Of the times we will meet with them in the future, tomorrow night will be the first.

We will not be running the bus this Wednesday night to pick up kids for our mid-week Bible School. We will be having a staff meeting to go over what changes we may need to make in the program. It also gives the staff a break from their hard and stressful work. We are dealing with kids that know nothing about church or even God and many of these are from broken and disfunctional homes. Their behavior is often not what it should be and we have to really pay close attention to discipline. We have had to tell a couple of them that they could not ride the bus anymore because they just will not behave. It is sad to have to do that for these are the ones who need the love of Christ most. I am thinking about going to visit their homes and meet what ever adult is there in charge of them. Maybe they will be willing to help us help their child. This will be the first staff meeting this year.

When you consider that today is the first day of the rest of your life you must also consider that this may be the last day of your life. Everyday should be lived with optimisim and hope for we do not know if it is the first or the last day of our lives. Get the most out of every day and know that eternity awaits you when this life is over. Where will you spend the first day in eternity? God bless you.