This is the day the Lord has made

I woke this morning with Scripture running through my head.

This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it. 
Psalm 118:24 esv

Why my thoughts were turned to that verse before my mind was even fully awake, I do not know, but for some reason the Lord placed that verse on my heart and mind. As I lay there, thinking on that verse and slowly waking, I could just make out the tree tops and sky through my bedroom window. That glimpse of the Lord's creation with such a heart lifting verse on my mind brought a deep peace and joy as I was reminded in such a vivid way of all the miracles the Lord has surrounded us with. Many of which we experience without thought more often than not. What great miracles are air, wind, rain, trees, flowers, even bees and snakes. All of creation points to its maker but all too often we see creation without thought of our creator. 

I often marvel at trees. I think I could stand beneath one, looking up in amazement for hours. What a great and mighty work a tree is and how small and insignificant I am in comparrison and yet Scripture tells us that we are of a much greater importance than the majestic trees are.

As I lay in bed thinking of all this I also thought of the verses:
Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Thankfulness. Gratitude. Prayer without ceasing. One could almost base their entire life off those three little verses and what a life it would be. 

What a beautiful beginning I had to my day, thinking, pondering, praying over verses the Lord laid on my heart before I even awoke. My first awareness of this day was 'this is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it'. And rejoice and be glad I did. I awoke to a glad heart and a rejoicing soul. 

How great it is to face each day with thanksgiving.

Life is so very fleeting. Scripture says it is but a vapor. I envision a vapor as a wispy strand of smoke or steam. There one second, vanished the next. It simply appears and then fades away with no lingering trace that it ever existed. 

A vapor.

Here and gone. 

And Scripture says that's what life is. A vapor. Here today. Gone tomorrow. We never know when our last breath will come. 

We recently had some bad storms in our area. They brought high winds and tornadoes. A child was killed by a falling tree. There was no warning that the child's life would soon be over. It just happened suddenly. There one moment, gone the next. Just like that. A young life was ended in what must have seemed like the blink of an eye. With no warning. 

Oh, to live every moment in total thankfulness. Embracing joyfully every moment the Lord grants us in His creation.

What must it have been like?

Can you imagine what it must have been like for Paul, for the disciples? These men were given assignments by God to go out and give the Gospel. They were going into groups of people that were very steeped in traditions, people that were taught they must do certain things in certain ways to attain any hope of salvation. These people had lots of rules and a hugely works based religion. They may or may not have seen Christ in person, may or may not have heard the Gospel He was teaching. They had no Bibles. Some were, or would be, genuine born again Christians. Many were not. Great crowds came. They came out of a genuine drawing on their hearts. They came out of a great need for learning and edification. They came out of curiosity. They came out of boredom. Out of scorn.

Crowds and crowds of people came to hear and hear they did. And Paul (Timothy, John...) stood before them and talked and taught with heartfelt and divinely given words. They guided, led, admonished. And still it had little effect. Paul went so far as to ask them why don't you hear me. Christ gave the answer in John 8:44, "you are of your father, the devil".

They came. They heard the stories first hand. They saw the miracles. Some of them saw Christ in person. Some of them were born again, some weren't. Some believed in Christ but had no salvation. Some were as religious as they could be, doing works they believed would get them into heaven. These were the people Paul, and the others, were teaching, leading. The crowds had upstanding citizens, prostitutes, derelects. Men, women, children. People of different cultures and belief systems. And these were the people Paul dedicated his life to giving the Gospel to.

He had to have known that there were some born again Christians in the crowds and he had to know that there were many that were not. He taught, sometimes repeatedly, the Gospel and how a Christian should live. He warned of wolves in the midst of sheep. He admonished to let the people selling Christs name to be left alone because anytime the name of Christ is given, the Gospel is given.

What must Paul have thought and felt when he stood before those great crowds of people?