before you, in your shoes

The Word for today:
Matthew 6:19-34

mark this: Matthew 6:33

Today is my son's 16th birthday. He's just a little bit older than I am.

We're going to the DMV to get his learner's permit this afternoon. He's on the cusp, almost ready to step into manhood. This all starts a Dad to thinkin'.

I don't know exactly when I came to faith in Jesus Christ, because I was born again before I knew what "born again" meant. But looking back, it was right around 1994--perhaps only months after Frankie was born. So I'm "16," too. I'm on the threshold of manhood in the family of the LORD.

I never really looked at it this way until five minutes ago when I was searching for the kernel of thought which would find its way into tomorrow's blog. And then I saw Matthew 6:33. What a perfect verse to write on Frankie's card, I thought.

That's when I started thinking back over the years and that's how I concluded that 56=16.

While Frankie and I stand at the threshold of manhood, maybe you're on the threshold of a new challenge, or a marriage, or a new career, or a new season of life. Maybe you're not entering tomorrow, as much as you're leaving yesterday behind. At any rate, each of us, every morning, stands at the threshold of a new day.

Before you make your way through that door, find Matthew 6:33. You won't find it on the blog page today, because you're a man now so you can look it up by yourself.

You'll find no fireworks there. And no philosophy. Just perspective.

Perspective from the Son of Man (1), who crossed the threshold, wearing every man's shoes. I want to be just like him when I grow up.


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(1) "Son of Man" was Jesus' favorite self-description.