2ED 7HITEAND
"LUEB_Y§
indulge yourself with
mouth-watering gourmet waffles,
coffee and smoothies . . .
Summer
schmummer.
You can have
it, horn worms and snakes and all. I can’t wait for fall. But there’s
really much more to this story, all of our stories, than just the
occasional pest or critter in our lives. A horn worm and a snake are
but minor annoyances compared to the actual problems we all face
daily, regardless of the season, both individually and collectively.
How do we continue to reach forward in this life, given the incredibly difficult news of our times? We are all accosted by widely varying
problems and heartaches. Summer just seems to bring out the heat
and humidity and storms of this life into a harsh and unrelenting
sunlit view. If we were to share with each other the deeply personal
issues that face our families, the history that keeps repeating itself,
we would probably agree that snakes and hornworms are nothing.
And we would be right.
I’ve discovered a bit late in life that the same approach to
getting over the varmints is also quite effective in weathering the
larger storms and villains. And it comes from the only source that
can be trusted not to change with the winds of time. Our only hope
is to continue reaching forward, steadfast in faith, for the prize that
awaits us on the other side. For me, the “secret” can be found,
among many other passages, in Philippians 3:7-16 (NKJV) – verse
markers removed, emphasis mine.
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for
Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which
is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being
conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which
Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself
to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things
which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are
ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of
God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have
this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal
even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already
attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
And, of course, there’s the added joy in believing that horn worms
and snakes will not be waiting there for us. In other words, “Darling,
I love you, but give me Park Avenue!”
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JULY 2016
57