(*Pictured above is my favorite type of grass. Dead grass. Because me and dead grass get along great. Because I don’t have to mow it. And it’s ok with that. Dead grass is my jam.)
While running in the summertime you can’t help but smell those yards that have just been freshly cut. The aroma speaks of Dixie Youth baseball games from long ago when I was second baseman for the A’s and Tigers. It’s almost like being transported to that time when I was young and care free. I love the saying “Youth is wasted on the young.” If we only knew then what we know now! I remember my biggest concern being having enough red legos to complete my super secret lair and enough Big League Chew to make it through the weekend.
It’s been said that the sense of smell is the sense closest tied to our memories. Think about it. Ever walk into your old elementary or high school? Just the whiff of terpentine, chlorox, pheremones and lunchroom bring back a rush of memories: places, people, papers due and math problems unsolved.
Fresh cut grass does it to me every time. It may even bring tears to your eyes. From allergies, of course.
Sometimes we trick ourselves into believing that just because we aren’t in good ol’ days anymore that there are no good NEW days ahead. We are very quick to pounce on memories of the past with reminiscence and not be anxious or excited about what lies ahead.
I have news for your, fellow believer. Our best days are ahead. You’re best life is not now but later. As we long for and anticipate the Day of the Lord let’s not live like we’re dying. Let’s live like we’re dead. Dying daily. Living in Christ with urgency. Nostalgia won’t get you through today but living in the power of the gospel of Jesus will. God may have come through for you in a huge way in the past but we need him to come through for us right now. Wherever you are in your walk you need God himself to come through in a miraculous way. He holds us together.
John Piper has written “have gratitude for the past and faith for the future”.
How are you living? Running on the fumes of the past or pressing on towards the prize, the high calling of Christ? Forget your own plans. Be bold and confident in His. Lean not on your own understanding.
“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21.
jb
justinbedingfield.com 