A Birthday Perspective
A Different Perspective For A Happy Birthday
Yesterday I celebrated my 66th birthday. I received numerous “Happy Birthdays” on my Facebook page as well as text messages. Some of my loving church family gave me a birthday card wishing me the best, and that just one week after giving me a surprise retirement party. I am so grateful to all the well-wishers and friends. I see many people celebrating their birthdays in so many ways. For me, however, this day wasn’t so celebratory because two scriptures came to the forefront of my mind. The first is Psalms 90:12 states, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” The days we have on earth are to be lived wisely and not foolishly. What is wise living? We read these words in Acts 13:36. “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption.” David fulfilled God’s purpose for his life. Afterwards there was nothing else left to do. Each birthday should be a reminder to all of us that God has a purpose for our lives. He did not create us just to live life for our enjoyment. He uniquely and sovereignly called us into this world for “His” purposes. Before the prophet Jeremiah was conceived in his mother’s womb, he was in God’s mind for a purpose just as we all were. Our birth was by divine purpose. Jeremiah 1:5 states, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." This verse affirms the fact that we are here for a purpose, God’s purpose. Often, we give ourselves to living for ourselves without any thought of why we are still living. Each birthday that God allows us to be here should be a reminder that we still have a divine purpose for living but we don’t have forever to fulfill that purpose. We all have only a predetermined set of days for living. So often we thank God for being here yet do very little for Him while we’re here. On my 66th birthday I am happy for the privilege of continuing to serve Jesus my Lord for possibly another year and maybe even several more years. Otherwise there is no real reason to be happy. For me to truly have a real happy birthday, I need to be able to say when the time comes that I no longer having any birthdays, “I’ve fought a good fight.” “I’ve kept the faith.” I’ve fulfilled the purpose for which God saved me and brought me into this world. This is my new perspective on having a happy birthday. My wish is that all of our perspectives on birthdays become even more happy because we’re walking in God’s will for our lives.
Lawrence Robinson
