Birthday thoughts...

I seldom get excited about my birthday

I have purposeful things to do.

But others beckon me to share a meal

And read a card or two.

And as the numbers grow larger

Each year I contemplate

Whether anyone has the nerve

To put that many candles on my cake.

And with that many years behind me

I dare not to add up my sin

But instead offer only words of thanks

That I have been born again.

And that birth is a real celebration

For despite my trips and falls

My slate is forever clean

Thanks to the Lamb of God.

So we celebrate a little

By eating a bit too much

Knowing that even in my transgression

I will not escape His clutch.

For in Christ all is forgiven

I don’t care others say it ain’t.

I was living as a sinner,

But now know the abundance of a saint.

Though the old self will not leave me

I celebrate the life I count in years.

Though pain will sometimes seize me

I know my future holds no tears.

So let’s toast our life eternal

But live fully here and now.

By giving God’s love freely

Living to the full, but how?

Being poured out link an offering

Of wine upon an altar.

Using every gift and talent

While singing from the Psalter.

For abundance is less what we take in

Than that which we give out.

Living to the full it seems

Is to live without a doubt.

That we have missed out on nothing

Every time we’ve given from our wealth.

For we truly can’t take it with us

So I live for Him and not myself.

I am blessed to live this long

And in a wealthy nation.

But my biggest blessing will always be

Being made a new creation.