Happy New Year

It's January 1st, 2023. I've seen this first day of the year 77 times. How many more will I see? Who knows? One thing I do know is I'll see a lot fewer in my future than I've seen in my past.

So, what do I do with that real life thought? As I've grown older I've come to realize that having a sense of meaning or purpose is more and more important each year. I've also learned that having a sense of meaning doesn't have to be anything grand. It really simply means making some kind of positive difference in the world around me, whatever that world may be at any given time. Again, that doesn't have to be an award winning difference, rather simply finding purpose for something other than myself. There is not only fulfillment in that, but also often times the simplest sense of fulfillment can be surprisingly amazing.

I'm done with anger. I'm done with impatience, and I'm done with needing to win, to be first. All of those things are not necessarily done with me, but I so want to be done with them. It's not easy. I got caught up in all of those things at some point this last year. I'm not happy about that, but it reminds me that the "world" still has a hold on me, and I have to constantly be on guard and not let it control me.

As we age, hopefully our eternal focus becomes stronger and stronger, and with each passing year that focus becomes a greater influence than the influence of the world around us. I am more and more aware each year that eternity is a much longer time than my 77 worldly years. I pray that I stay aware of that each day as I enter 2023. After all, any tomorrow could be my first day of eternity, which is of course true for all of us.

On my father's dying day he said to me; "I'm not sure I've done all I need to do." I have always felt that I missed what he was trying to say. I responded reassuringly, and hoped that in doing so I possibly eased his concern to some degree. For me, I'm quite sure he had indeed done all he needed to do. He had, in his life, said YES to Jesus. And he had indeed made a difference in the world around him simply because he loved that world and those people in it, and we all knew it.

That's what I want for me. My Dad's difference wasn't grand by world standards, but it certainly was by eternal standards because his difference was humble and loving. What he wasn't sure he had done was so simple he didn't even know he had done it. He was a difference maker in my life and in the lives of many others. Yea, that's all I want for me. That's really all any of us should want. It's really pretty simple.

One of my morning devotionals this January 1st, 2023 says; "Live as a Christ-following believer here in earth with a heart toward heaven." (Gregg Matte).

That's pretty good advice. I pray I can follow that advice for the next 365 days.

Blessings and Happy New Year,

David