It’s that day again! My husband and I have birthdays one week apart. We usually spend our birthdays doing something special together. This year we are both celebrating monumental birthdays. He turned 70, and I 65. That makes me old enough to be an official senior citizen in the United States. We are using this year to mark some things off our bucket list. We are currently in central Florida where He is fishing in one of the huge lakes with record-breaking largemouth bass. We have been very blessed by God I’m thankful for another year of life, and I never want to take it for granted.
Life is a gift. On a snowy day in Alabama 65 years ago, God brought me into this world. That is not the date that I became a living soul, a real person, a person created in the image of God. That day occurred the day I was conceived. In Psalm 139:13-16, God affirms to us that He created us. He knew us before our own moms knew we existed. We are to praise Him as our creator, our sustainer, and our deliverer.
Psalm 139:13-16 “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hidden from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them”
As my creator, he “fearfully and wonderfully” made me. That is, he properly made me to have fear and reverence for Him. God built within each of us a desire for Him. In Romans 1:20, He helps us to understand who He is through creation. He allows us to get a glimmer of how magnificent He is by looking at creation. No one will have an excuse for not knowing Him when they stand before Him one day.
Romans 1:20 “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”
He is my sustainer. He gave me life and it is Him who sustains my life. In II Corinthians 12:9, Paul is experiencing a trial of some sort and in verse 8 he asks for Christ to remove it. The answer he got was verse 9. Jesus did not tell him He would remove the problem, but that He would extend grace to sustain him through it. In Philippians 4:13, we are told we can do all things that God intends for us to do through Christ. He will sustain us to succeed in pleasing Him. In Psalm 55:22, our instruction is to cast or give the things that burden us to God. If we will give them to Him, and trust Him to take care of them, He will sustain us. Too many times, we pray and tell God we are giving them to Him, and after praying we take them with us. We worry and fret instead of trusting. If you are struggling in this area of trust, meditate on the verses below.
II Corinthians 12:9 “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Psalm 55:22 “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”
Psalm 73:26 “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.”
Psalm 28:7 “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.”
He is also my deliverer. While I celebrate my birthday, there is another birthday that is more important than my physical birthday. It’s my spiritual birthday. It’s the day I really started to live. As we go through this world, we may experience many wonderful things and blessings of God, but we all come to a point of dying. That’s when eternity starts. When God created us, we became a living soul. Living is a continuous action. We will never cease to be, but we can determine where and how we will live. If we chose to make this life ours to rule, to live for ourselves, we will be choosing eternity in Hell. A place where there is no escape, once we die. A place that was created for the devil and his angels. We also have another choice, one that will be forever filled with God and those who are His. It’s a place of complete perfection. No pain, no tears, no disappointments. This place is Heaven. When I experienced my second birthday, it became my final home, as long as I believe. That was the day I ask Jesus to forgive me, to come into my heart and be the Lord of my life. With salvation, there is a surrendering of self, a choice to allow Him to be my master. My desires now are to please Him not myself.
As I thank God today, I think on all that He has blessed me with, my family, Christian friends, my health, and material things that extend way beyond my needs, I must put my spiritual birthday at the top of the list. I am eternally grateful for God making a way for me to escape the eternal punishment for my sins.
Today, my physical birthday is another opportunity God has extended to me to show others how to have their own spiritual birthday. A chance to think about every aspect of my life, and determine what areas need to change to bring glory to Him. A chance to fulfill I Corinthians 10:31.
I Corinthians 10:31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
Today may not be your birthday, but these choices are yours too!
Happy Birthday!!!