before you, in your shoes

The Word for today:
Matthew 6:19-34

mark this: Matthew 6:33

Yesterday was my son's 19th birthday. He's just a little bit older than I am.

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'll soon be "19," too.  I'm on the cusp of manhood in the family of the LORD.

I never really looked at it this way until a few days ago when Shelley was wrapping Frankie's present.  As she did, she handed me a birthday card.  For a full 15 minutes I was at a loss for appropriate words.  Then Matthew 6:33 crossed my mind.  What a perfect verse, I thought, to write on a college man's birthday card.  So I did.

That's when I started thinking back over the years and that's how I concluded that 59=19.

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 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 (or woman) now so you can look it up for yourself.  When you do, you'll find no fireworks there.  And no philosophy.  Just perspective.

Perspective from the Son of Man (1), who crossed the threshold before you, in your shoes.

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