I’m forty-one years old today. Forty years ago my Mother wrote me a letter that I still have to this day. She wrote it to me on my first birthday and placed it in our family Bible with clear instructions that it was not to be opened until the day I graduated high-school. I did read it on the day I graduated high-school. I read it again this morning.
The entire objective of the letter was to share her faith with me, to encourage me to live for Jesus, and to share with me things about her life just in case she was not alive by the time I graduated high-school. She told me she had just rocked me to sleep and tucked me in bed after having my first birthday party when she sat down and was writing this letter to me. My Mother went on to tell me what my name meant and why my parents had named me Nathan Wesley after the prophet Nathan in the Bible and after John Wesley the founder of Methodism. She told me how good of a man my father was and how much they prayed for me. It is one of my most treasured possessions.
My Mom is now in heaven after ending her battle with cancer in October of 2019. I know she is in heaven. She wrote if she wasn’t here when I read the letter then that’s where she would be and in her own words she told me why. I have a document telling me about how my Mother put her trust in Jesus at the age of twelve and chose to live for him, trusting she would be with Him for all eternity. What a gift? What is more, I have a piece of paper that contains the mandate on my life and it has been with me for forty years. [Click here to read the post I wrote on my birthday 5 years ago]
Let Those Who Drink The Water Not Forget
I recently heard my Pastor say, “let those who drink the water not forget those who dug the well.” None of us can take credit for the things we have accomplished or the talents we posses. Yes, we all have to take responsibility for our own lives and steward what we have been given. However, we are all standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. Perhaps your story is not as dramatic as mine (few people have as much drama in them as I do!) however, the concept is no less true. It is there if you look for it and when you see it the greatest thing you can do is release gratitude.
There is a lot of talk about vaccines and inoculations right now as we face a global pandemic. Gratitude will vaccinate you against self-pity, comparison, and bitterness. And as deadly as a strange virus can be, nothing is more deadly than a bitter, ungrateful spirit. With it, you decompose from the inside out. [Click here to read my post “Driven By Gratitude”]
A Second Chance At Life
In 1888 a Swedish inventor named Alfred discovered his own obituary in a French newspaper while he was visiting the country. His brother Ludvig had recently passed away but the newspaper recorded that it was Alfred who had passed. Not only so, the obituary offered a scathing review of Alfred’s life and his work because he had invented several military explosives including dynamite and the writer labeled him as a “merchant of death!”
Can you imagine reading your own obituary one morning while having your coffee? What about finding out the way you are being remembered is how horrible of a person you were and how good it is that you are now gone?! That is what Alfred experienced. It caused him to rethink his life (since he wasn’t actually dead as the newspaper had supposed). He decided to use the fortune he had amassed from his inventions to create a society that would reward people for making significant contributions to society. Those prizes are named after that Swedish inventor, Alfred Nobel. The Nobel Prizes have been world renowned ever since. [Click here to watch me teach a message using this story]
On my birthday I am reflecting on my life. Today may not be your birthday but it is a new day in which you are given the opportunity to truly live! Take a moment and recognize those who dug the well that you get to drink from in your relationships, in your work place, or in your faith. Pull your phone out and send someone a message of gratitude. Focus less on how awkward it may be for you to do it and focus more on how much it needs to be said and may bless the other person. Regardless, it will bless the Lord and will help you become a more grateful person. Learn a lesson from Alfred Nobel or from my Mom, Shirley Smith and recognize we have a limited time to make an impact while we walk this earth. Make it count. As my Mom wrote to me, “Only one life – ’twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
From the Bible
Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith. – Hebrews 13:7 NLT
Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. 13 Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other. – 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 NLT
Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith. – Galatians 6:10 NLT