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6 Thoughts I had @ 60

In my 60th year, approaching the only birthday I have thought noteworthy - I reflected much (too much?). I turned my mind to this work, to know what I had learned. Then I may be able to repeat the wise, release my foolishness and re-write my final decade(s?) towards righteousness.

I discovered:

  1. the dalliances of my youth were not correct for life. Life is clearly a battleground not a playground, but I was slow to learn - too long I sought play.
  2. that tomorrow is far more important than yesterday (although it is not guaranteed), for yesterday is past and cannot be touched again. It is what I do today that seeds harmony or dysfunction for my tomorrow.
  3. it is healthy to look forward with gratitude within the heart. It is unwise to wish for the times of yesterday and say that 'they were better', for change comes upon all men and only in change is growth.
  4. to long for yesterday is to rot today and lose tomorrow. A pillar of salt cannot remain vertical for long.
  5. that statistically I now have 1/4 of my life left, but Biblically I only have 1/7. It now weighs upon me to number my finite days aright, but these my Lord has already determined.
  6. the seeds I have sown - ones of joy and ones of hardship, ones of honor and ones of shame, but most are morally neutral. I appreciate why I have sown them and what trunks they have grown. I now know that for each today my thoughts are heard in heaven, my words upon earth - but my actions bounce forever in eternity.

When my dear dad died some years ago at 91, in soul sorrow I mused for an extended time. What true memorial would be inscribed upon his headstone, for he was a very good and sober man - very familiar with both hardship and tenacity? I settled upon:

faithfulness has its own rewards.

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

Today's Soul Snippet:

'They are well kept who God keeps'. ~ anon
 
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Posted in Faith, The Teacher;