Start Well, End Well

“It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,” (Ps 92:1-2 AV)

 

Our writer tells us how we should start and finish our day.  In the morning, we should declare God’s mercy and grace.  We should spend the time either publicly or in prayer, or both rehearsing the goodness of God.  In the evening, the faithfulness of God is our theme.  We rehearse how our day went and how good God was to us.  It is a reminder that even when we are so busy we do not recognize the finer points of God’s faithfulness, by rehearsing God’s faithfulness we are aware of just how active God is in our daily lives.  But it is the morning that we want to think of today.  One wonders if we start our day by rehearsing how wonderful God is to us, we may have a better time waging our war against sin.  If we stop and think of just how good God is in forgiving us for all we have done, maybe when we are tempted, we will not fall nearly as easily.  If we spent a few minutes each morning as we awaken from a night’s sleep, and pray doing nothing but thanking God for His mercy, that has to change how our day goes.  Being thankful for God’s mercy from the first moment of the day will help us frame the entire day in that mercy and not be so glib about it.  How we spend the first few moments of our day will dictate how the rest of our day will go.

I recently met a man who suffered a visible injury many years ago.  He was a veteran and I assumed the injury was caused by his time in military service.  When I see someone with a service hat on, I always try to engage them in conversation and thank them for their service.  As we talked, I heard of his time in the service.  I heard of the things he did on the field and the type of job he did.  I heard all about his life.  Then I asked if his injury was a remnant of his time in the service and he stated it was not.  His injury was a result of decisions in life that he now regrets.  What I didn’t pick up on was any bitterness in his voice.  I didn’t hear any resentment or deep regret.  He felt that his decisions in life resulted in his present condition, but he also felt very grateful that life was not any worse.  He sat there, in his wheelchair, facing the sun, and was grateful to be alive.  We began to talk of his soul’s condition.  A cursory conversation ensued but I could tell he was not comfortable with my probing, so I backed off.  He had a tract in his hand and an explanation of the message therein, but I plan to see him again.  I was struck by how grateful he seemed even though life was rather difficult.  Here was a guy who had every reason to be discouraged.  But if he was, each and every day he lived would be worse than the last.  He started the day thankful that he was alive when he felt that he shouldn’t be.

If we were to take a little bit of time first thing in the morning and thank God for specific times of forgiveness, one wonders how much we would be tempted in the same areas of life.  If we stopped and thanked Jesus for His selfless sacrifice and name specific sins for which His blood was spilled, maybe we wouldn’t do those things again.  If we were to thank the Holy Spirit for His ministry of conviction and name those things for which we were convicted, then maybe we would stop before temptation got a hold.  If we were to stop and consider just how gracious God is to us, then maybe we wouldn’t be so quick to respond to temptation’s devices.  If we were to take inventory of all the times the LORD passed over our sin because the blood of Christ covered it, we wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to entertain the same over and again.  Maybe, just maybe, our days would go far better and we can accomplish great victory for the testimony of the LORD if we would first thank Him for all that He has forgiven.  Be specific!  Be repetitive!  Thank Him over and over.  Then we won’t take His mercy for granted.