October 07, 2008

Happy Birthday

Psalm 90

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12

— 

This morning when I turned on my computer, I got an e-card. It was a birthday card, but today is not my birthday! It was from a person I did not recognize, but it was a nice card—most likely an honest mistake.

Maybe today is really your birthday. In that case, I want to wish you a blessed and happy birthday!

Do you know you share this birthday with many others and that some of them are quite well known? The list includes the Danish physicist Niels Bohr (b. 1885), who made important contributions to the theory of atoms; Bishop Desmond Tutu (b. 1931), who worked against apartheid in South Africa; the Chinese cellist Yo-Yo Ma (b. 1955), and the former Russian President Vladimir Putin (b. 1952).

Maybe you wish that you could have made an important impact on human history, as some of these other people have done.

But remember that someday these people will all pass away and be mostly forgotten.

If we know the Lord and walk in his ways, however, then we will be remembered and share in his glory in eternity (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

In the meantime, with believers all around the world, let’s remember that “this is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

Dear Lord, help us to enjoy this day, for it is the day you have made. Also help us to look beyond just this day, just this year, and focus our eyes on eternity. In Jesus, Amen.

About the author — Jimmy Tai-On Lin

Rev. Jimmy Lin is the Chinese ministry leader of The Back to God Hour. With his staff in Palos Heights and Hong Kong, Rev. Lin has ministered to over 1.3 billion Chinese-speaking people around the world for 16 years through radio, literature, CD/DVD, Internet, and text message. His wife, Doris, is one of the translators of Today into the Chinese language, which now has a circulation of more than 45,000 copies.

Start your day with quick daily devotions.

See God's love, power, presence, and purpose in your life every day!